Sippy Sidhu murder case: CBI court directs witnesses to ensure presence in next hearing
Amid advocates’ ongoing strike against the proposed draft of the Tenancy Act, the murder trial has been adjourned thrice in 11 days
Taking note of repeated adjournments in the high-profile Sippy Sidhu murder case owing to the ongoing advocates’ strike in district courts for the past two weeks, the special CBI court hearing the trial has directed that the prosecution witnesses’ presence be ensured in court on the next date of hearing.
The case, which is meant to be fast-track, has already witnessed three adjournments ever since the advocates strike against the proposed draft of the Tenancy Act began on July 22, resulting in wastage of court’s precious time.
While two prosecution witnesses were examined in previous hearings before the commencement of strike, the case was simply adjourned on July 22 to July 29 and then to August 1. On Thursday, the case was again adjourned to August 6.
Subsequently, the court of special CBI judge Alka Malik, in order, remarked, “No witness of the prosecution is present. The two prosecution witnesses were informed by the naib court as per instructions of the court not to appear as the local bar is observing ‘No Work Day’ in protest against proposed implementation of Chandigarh Union Territory Tenancy Act, 2019, for indefinite period. Therefore, naib court is under direction from this court to intimate these witnesses to appear for their examination on August 6, 2024.”
The judge also asked the defence counsel to appear in court on August 6.
On the other hand, the District Bar Association has announced that any member who appears in the courtroom during the strike will be fined ₹5,000.
Sippy Sidhu’s brother Jasmanpreet Singh Sidhu said as per the schedule announced by court, the case was likely to see its conclusion by the year end, but that did not seem to be the case with the strike going on.
“It is utter harassment that we go to court each time only to see that the case is being adjourned. And this is a fast track case. Litigants are suffering owing to the strike,” he said.
It was on May 5 this year, nine years after the murder that the CBI court ordered day-to-day hearing of the trial while framing charges against Kalyani Singh, 37, the prime accused in the case. The recording of evidence in the case began on July 9 when a key prosecution witness was examined.
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. She has been out on bail since September 2022.