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Behbal Kalan firing: Ex-SSP wants framing of charges against accused deferred till Feb
Sharma, who is an accused in the 2015 police firing case, filed an application under Section 223 (persons accused of the same offence committed in the course same transaction) of CrPC for framing of joint charges against all the accused in person, including Saini, to defer the proceedings against him till February 2022.
Citing the Punjab and Haryana high court decision to grant exemption to former director general of police (DGP) Sumedh Singh Saini from personal appearance till February 2022, former Moga SSP Charanjit Singh Sharma has urged the Faridkot court to defer framing of charges against the accused in the 2015 Behbal Kalan firing case till then.
Sharma, who is an accused in the 2015 police firing case, filed an application under Section 223 (persons accused of the same offence committed in the course same transaction) of CrPC for framing of joint charges against all the accused in person, including Saini, to defer the proceedings against him till February 2022.
Sharma said that as per law all the accused are to be tried together for the offences charged. “When all the accused are jointly facing trial, in the absence of one of the accused legally charges against remaining accused cannot be framed. Even section 223 of CrPC provides that a person may be charged and tried jointly if such persons committed the offence in the course of the same transaction. Meaning thereby the accused appearing before this court are to be charged and tried jointly. In the absence of Saini, it impermissible to charge and all accused. Furthermore, the trial of one of the accused cannot be split,” he added.
Sharma asked the court to adjourn the matter till February 2022 in the interest of justice, adding that “the framing of charges against the accused in person may also be deferred till then”.
Additional district and session judge Harbans Singh Lekhi issued a notice to the state to file a reply on December 3.
Hearing another application of Sharma, the court directed the special investigation team (SIT) to assist the court by providing details of the status of the investigation in the FIR no. 129 registered at the Bajakahan police station against protestors for attacking cops on October 14, 2015.
Last month, Sharma had filed a plea seeking directions to Punjab Police to conduct further investigation with regard to the injuries suffered by the cops as well as damage to the public property during the Behbal Kalan firing incident of October 14, 2015. Two Sikh protesters were killed in the incident.
