Chandigarh, Oct. 18 -- The Punjab and Haryana high court on Friday deferred hearing on a plea seeking a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the suicide of Haryana IPS officer Y Puran Kumar at his Sector 11 residence in Chandigarh on October 7. "What's so special about this case? When do we hand over investigation to the CBI? Which are those decisions of the Supreme Court? There have to be some extraordinary circumstances," the bench of chief justice Sheel Nagu and justice Sanjeev Berry observed, asking the petitioner to spell out guidelines framed by the apex court on the transfer of probe to the central agency by high courts. The court was hearing a petition from Ludhiana resident Navneet Kumar, who claimed to be the president of an NGO, Hope Welfare Society. He submitted that he had filed the petition to protect the integrity of the Indian Police Service (IPS) and to safeguard the rule of law. He said he wanted to ensure that justice is done "free of local influence or institutional bias". As the hearing began, the petitioner's counsel submitted that an officer conducting investigation in Haryana in a related case had also died of a gunshot wound and the incident had shaken the conscience of society. "Senior officials are committing suicide and alleging victimisation and naming more than a dozen of senior IPS and IAS officers. As such, it is a matter of concern. My humble submission is that a central agency should conduct a fair investigation," his counsel submitted. However, the court questioned him on the guidelines for the transfer of a probe to the CBI. The hearing was deferred for October 31 as the counsel sought time to address arguments on the issues raised by the court. The Chandigarh Police's counsel told the court that a special investigation team has been constituted under an IG rank officer. There are three other IPS officers in the SIT, along with three DSPs. In all, there is a team of around 14, including technical members, carrying out the probe on a daily basis. The UT counsel questioned the hurry in which the PIL had been filed. The case was registered on October 9 and the petition was filed on October 13. "To begin with, the locus of the petitioner would be in question. He is a Ludhiana resident and says he was visiting Chandigarh. He read the newspaper and got disturbed. He has been able to show nothing in the entire petition that would reflect claim of bias, or investigation is flawed, or there is any political interference or the state's interference. These are the parameters laid down by the Supreme Court," the UT's counsel said. Besides seeking transfer of the probe to the CBI, the plea had demanded that the investigation be stayed for an "independent and impartial probe". "It is submitted that the Chandigarh Police, which is investigating the matter, suffers from territorial, institutional and administrative limitations, particularly as the deceased was a Haryana-cadre officer and the UT administration is closely intertwined with both Haryana and Central establishments. These conflicts of interest render the ongoing investigation neither impartial nor effective," the plea read....