Chandigarh, Dec. 3 -- Stating that the Punjab State Human Rights Commission (PSHRC) is only a "recommendatory body", the Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) stayed the panel's October 13 order, where it directed the registration of a criminal case against five police officers, including a former station house officer (SHO) in Jalandhar, in a 2023 criminal case.

"From the aforesaid (content of the petition), it is quite evident that the Human Rights Commission has gone beyond its brief by issuing, directions and orders, to be complied with by the executive authorities, instead of recommending," the bench of chief justice Sheel Nagu and justice Sanjiv Berry observed while staying the order and asking the rights panel for a response by Janua...