E-Paper
Lockdown came as a blessing in disguise for Punjab ex-DGP Sumedh Singh Saini in 29-year-old abduction and torture case
Apart from the inordinate delay, the Mohali court questioned the registration of the FIR at a time when there are travel restrictions amid the curfew in Punjab to check the spread of coronavirus
Former Punjab Police chief DGP Sumedh Singh Saini was on Monday granted anticipatory bail in a 29-year-old case related to the disappearance of Balwant Singh Multani, a junior engineer at the Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Corporation (Citco), but not before the court questioned the timing of the first information report (FIR) against him and six other cops.
All seven were booked after 29 years of the incident at Mataur police station in Mohali district.
“The timing chosen by the complainant to appear at this time of high distress raises a serious doubt in the mind of this court,” additional district and sessions judge Monika Goyal said in the order.
“The whole police force is involved in managing the Covid-19 outbreak. There are so many things to handle such as the patients, persons stranded in other states and migrant labourers leaving Punjab, but despite being busy, Punjab has hastily registered an FIR in a 29-year-old case when the matter has even once attained finality by orders of the Supreme Court,” reads the order.
“Covid-19 has brought the strongest nations to their knees, but present complainant Palwinder Singh Multani, who has fear of life and safety of his family since 1991, has chosen this time to come out and lodge the FIR, when prior to this, he had not taken any step in regard with disappearance of his brother,” read the 33-page order of the court.
The court said, “The Supreme Court and high court are trying their best to de-congest the jails due to Covid-19. The purpose of investigation will suffice if Saini is directed to join investigation and to cooperate properly. Thus, the present is a fit case where he is entitled to anticipatory bail.”
RESTRAINED FROM LEAVING HOUSE
Referring to the argument that former DGP Saini tried to flee from Chandigarh to evade his arrest during the curfew, the court said, “It is not believable that Saini had travelled from Chandigarh up to the Himachal border without being intercepted anywhere by Punjab Police.”
The court said that the allegations made are only based on news reports but “still in order to restrain the applicant from leaving his place of residence, adequate conditions need to be imposed.”
SAINI GOT PROTECTION FROM HC
Fearing his false implication in criminal cases, Saini had approached the Punjab and Haryana high court for protection. “In October 2018, the high court had given him protection from any arrest in cases pertaining to incidents of the period when he held the posts of state vigilance head, inspector general of police, intelligence, Punjab, and director general of police, Punjab, by giving him prior notice of one week,” said Saini’s counsel.
“The prosecution is trying to take the benefit of this fact as this case pertains to the tenure of Saini as SSP, Chandigarh, 29 years ago,” the court observed.
WHY CASE AT MOHALI?
“It is alleged that his escape has been shown only to cover up the custodial death, but still the offence alleged is committed either at Chandigarh or at Qadian. Thus, it is not understandable as to how the present case has been lodged at Mataur police station (in Mohali),” the court questioned.
The case registered in Mataur was based on the disclosures made by Gurmeet Singh alias Pinki in Outlook magazine in 2015, through which complainant Palwinder Singh Multani said that he came to know about the details of torture meted out to his brother and his subsequent elimination.
“The complainant had not taken any action till May 6, 2020, specially when Saini had already retired in June 2018. Thus, no explanation is coming as to why the present complainant had kept mum for such a long time,” the court observed.
