A Punjab and Haryana high court bench on Monday summoned SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal and his brother-in-law Bikram Singh Majithia for July 11 in connection with a criminal case filed by justice Ranjit Singh (retd).
The case pertains to Sukhbir and Majithia’s alleged utterances against the one-man commission of justice Singh, formed to look into sacrilege incidents of Guru Granth Sahib in Punjab and the subsequent police firing on Sikh protesters in 2015.
The complaint made to the HC says that the two leaders had allegedly termed his report as a “pile of waste paper” and referred to the judge as “injustice Ranjit Singh”. As per the petition, Sukhbir had even accused the former judge of acting in a ‘malicious manner’ and indulging in ‘cheating and forgery’ while preparing the report.
They were to remain present in the court on Monday. However, the two leaders had moved the exemption application in view of the general elections.
Appearing for the petitioner, senior advocate APS Deol had argued that it was an act of defiance by them as they have not appeared despite court orders. “A person of such eminence would not flee the country and avoid appearance, therefore, I deem it appropriate to grant exemption to the respondents from appearance in person today and direct them to appear on the next date of hearing,” the court observed.
{{/usCountry}}Appearing for the petitioner, senior advocate APS Deol had argued that it was an act of defiance by them as they have not appeared despite court orders. “A person of such eminence would not flee the country and avoid appearance, therefore, I deem it appropriate to grant exemption to the respondents from appearance in person today and direct them to appear on the next date of hearing,” the court observed.
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