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Akali Dal chief Sukhbir granted bail in 2017 defamation case
The defamation complaint was lodged by then Akhand Kirtani Jatha spokesperson Rajinder Pal Singh in 2017. Rajinder Pal had approached the Chandigarh court with a complaint in 2017
A local court granted bail to Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Saturday in a defamation case filed in 2017. Earlier, the court had cancelled his bail and issued non-bailable warrants after he failed to appear for a scheduled hearing.
The defamation complaint was lodged by then Akhand Kirtani Jatha spokesperson Rajinder Pal Singh in 2017. Rajinder Pal had approached the Chandigarh court with a complaint in 2017, and acting on the same, the local court had summoned Sukhbir in March 2020. Rajinder Pal had alleged that Sukhbir made defamatory remarks against him in 2017 by associating him with the terrorist outfit Babbar Khalsa International (BKI).
Sukhbir had challenged the summoning order and also sought the quashing of the complaint in 2020. The Punjab and Haryana high court had dismissed Sukhbir’s plea. After this, the trial had resumed in the lower court.
Sukhbir was called for the hearing on December 17, but since he didn’t turn up, his bail was cancelled, and non-bailable warrants were issued.
The counsel for Sukhbir, including Damanbir Singh Sobti, Arshdeep Singh Kler, and Rajesh Kumar Rai, informed the court that the SAD chief failed to appear due to a miscommunication, and this was not intentional. The next hearing in the case has been listed for February 2.
