Mansa court junks pre-arrest bail plea of author of book on Moose Wala

The court of district and sessions judge HS Grewal after hearing the arguments of both sides dismissed the anticipatory bail application moved by Makha.

A Mansa court on Friday dismissed the anticipatory bail application of a writer Manjinder Makha, who had recently released a book on slain Punjabi singer Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, popularly known as Sidhu Moose Wala. On December 7 last year, the Mansa police booked the writer following a complaint by the singer’s father Balkaur Singh that the book is based on ‘unfounded defamatory allegations’.

Manjinder Singh, also known as Manjinder Makha, claims he was a close friend of the singer and wrote the book titled: ‘The real reason why legend died’. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The court of district and sessions judge HS Grewal after hearing the arguments of both sides dismissed the anticipatory bail application moved by Makha.

Manjinder Singh, also known as Manjinder Makha, claims he was a close friend of the singer and wrote the book titled: ‘The real reason why legend died’. The singer’s parents condemned the book’s content and Balkaur submitted a complaint to the Mansa senior superintendent of police against Makha, alleging that he had published a book based on ‘unfounded defamatory allegations’ and further released defamatory content on social media platforms.

Following this, a case was registered at Mansa sadar police station under sections 451 (trespassing), 406 (breach of trust) and 390 (robbery) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 356 (3) (defamation through a written or pictorial medium) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

Balkaur Singh in his complaint had claimed: “Due to Makha’s deliberate act of defaming and smearing my reputation among his family and peers, the accused’s book is nothing but a farce, false and concocted story based on conjecture and surmises. The said book and videos are insulting and highly defamatory and the contents printed in the said book are libellous against me and my family which has not only harmed the reputation of my deceased son but also resulted in defamation to his family members.

On May 29, 2022, six shooters shot dead Moose Wala when he, along with his two friends, was going in his vehicle to Jawaharke village in Mansa, 10 km from the singer’s native village Moosa.