Around 25 years ago, the Punjab Police rented a house of one Harbilas Gangar in Mohali. The house, which was to be the official residence of the Superintendent of Police, Mohali, was later turned into an ‘office’.

When Gangar noticed that an office was being run from the house in Phase IV, he wrote to the Punjab Police and the Director General of Police (DGP), Punjab, seeking directions to get the house vacated.

In 1998, the Principal Secretary, Department of Home, Punjab, directed the DGP to vacate the house and hand over the possession back to Gangar.

However, 11 years on and the house still remained with the Mohali police, despite Gangar running from pillar to post.

Then on February 5 this year, Gangar sent a legal notice to the Principal Secretary and DGP, seeking directions to vacate the house.

In the notice, Gangar said despite assurance that the Mohali police would vacate the house, it hasn’t been done till date.

Gangar said the official residences of other police officers have been shifted to Phase I in Mohali, but the SP’s ‘residence’ was still in the same premises. “The house is being misused by opening an office in a residential building,” Gangar alleged in the notice. He said in the notice that the Mohali Police had been saying there was no other house available which could be rented for the SP.

Now, Gangar has moved the High Court, which has fixed two months for necessary action in the matter. Taking a strong note of his petition, Justice Surya Kant recently directed the Principal Secretary, Department of Home, to take cognizance of Gangar’s legal notice and take follow-up action within two months.