E-Paper
Punjab: Setback for Sukhbir, Faridkot court rejects anticipatory bail plea
Former CM Parkash Singh Badal granted anticipatory bail, while ex-deputy CM told to appear before Faridkot judicial magistrate on March 23 in connection with 2015 Kotkapura police firing case
In a setback for Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal, a Faridkot district court on Thursday rejected his anticipatory bail plea in the Kotkapura police firing case.
However, additional sessions judge Rajiv Kalra granted anticipatory bail to his father, the nonagenarian Akali patriarch and former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, who has been asked to furnish a personal bond of ₹5 lakh before the illaqa magistrate within 15 days.
Also read: Gangster’s interview from inside jail: Opposition in Punjab seeks high-level probe
According to sources, the court also turned down the anticipatory bail of former Faridkot SSP Sukhminder Singh Mann in the same case.
Then deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal was also holding the portfolio of home affairs when several Sikh protesters were injured in Faridkot district’s Kotkapura town after police opened fire on October 14, 2015, during an agitation against the Bargari sacrilege incident.
On February 24, the Punjab Police special investigation team (SIT), led by additional director general of police (ADGP) LK Yadav, filed a chargesheet in a court in Faridkot naming the former CM, his son and Ferozepur MP Sukhbir, and six police officers, including then Punjab Police chief Sumedh Singh Saini, as accused in the police firing case of 2015.
The Faridkot judicial magistrate ordered the accused to appear in court on March 23.
Following the district court’s order, Sukhbir is likely to approach the Punjab and Haryana high court.
The anticipatory bail petition of former DGP Saini will be heard on March 20.
