9 years on, trial finally begins in Sippy Sidhu murder case

While framing charges against Kalyani on May 5, special CBI judge Alka Malik had ordered day-to-day hearings till conclusion of trial

After a delay of nearly nine years, trial against Kalyani Singh, the prime accused in the 2015 Sippy Sidhu murder case that sent shockwaves through the city, has finally begun.

During the first day of trial on Monday, an eye-witness recorded his statements and supported the prosecution theory. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

While framing charges against Kalyani on May 5, special CBI judge Alka Malik had ordered day-to-day hearings till conclusion of trial.

During the first day of trial on Monday, an eye-witness recorded his statements and supported the prosecution theory. His examination-in-chief was concluded.

Kalyani, 37, has been charged under Sections 302 (murder), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence or giving false information to protect the offender) of the Indian Penal Code.

National-level shooter and lawyer Sukhmanpreet Singh, better known as Sippy Sidhu, was shot dead at a park in Sector 27 on September 20, 2015. His family has accused Kalyani of killing him as they had turned down her marriage proposal.

Sippy was the grandson of late justice SS Sidhu, a former Punjab and Haryana high court judge, and Kalyani is the daughter of retired Himachal Pradesh high court judge justice Sabina.

The sensational case was initially probed by the Chandigarh Police. But in 2016, it was transferred to CBI following protests by Sippy’s family. The central agency had at one point of time also filed an “untraced” report. But in June 2022, she was arrested by CBI and later charged with murder.

However, charges could not be framed by the special CBI court, hearing the murder trial, amid filing of one or the other applications by Kalyani, who has been out on bail since September 2022.