The Punjab and Haryana High Court criticized the trial court for delays and leniency in a Rs 58.68 lakh scam case involving 76-year-old Colonel Sukhwinder Singh Dhillon. The HC directed immediate steps to ensure speedy and humane trial proceedings for senior citizens.
Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana High Court recently gave a strong direction to the District and Sessions Judge of SAS Nagar to hold a meeting with all judicial officers in the district. The purpose of this meeting is to make sure that judges do not take a casual or careless attitude towards criminal trials, especially when the cases involve senior citizens.
This order came in the case of Colonel Sukhwinder Singh Dhillon versus the State of Punjab.
Justice NS Shekhawat issued the order on July 22 after noticing serious delays in the trial of a case filed by Colonel Dhillon, a 76-year-old retired army officer.
The Court highlighted that cases involving senior citizens must be handled on priority and decided quickly within a fixed time frame. It also emphasized that judges should not be careless and must act with a humane and balanced approach when dealing with people involved in such cases.
The Court stated clearly in its order,
“Learned District and Sessions Judge, S.A.S. Nagar, is directed to convene a meeting of all judicial officers of the District within a period of one week on receipt of certified copy of this order and the judicial officers may be advised not to adopt such a casual approach in criminal trials. The exemption from personal appearance should be granted, only when reasonable grounds exists for extending such benefits to the accused. Even, the cases of senior citizens should be decided on priority and the Presiding Officers of the Court must adopt a humane and balanced approach in dealing with the litigant,”
The case was about Colonel Dhillon’s complaint regarding a scam in which he lost a huge amount of money — Rs 58.68 lakhs — in a fake insurance policy fraud.
He claimed that the accused were deliberately delaying the trial by often not coming to court and asking for many exemptions from personally appearing in the court. He also said that the trial court was being too lenient in allowing these requests and frequently postponing the case.
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The Court observed that the trial court had been too soft not only towards the accused but also towards the jail authorities. It was shocking to see that the jail authorities failed to produce the accused on 10 consecutive dates, but the court still passed orders casually and kept adjourning the case.
The Court strongly criticized,
“It is shocking to note that the trial Court was unreasonably lenient with the jail authorities, who had failed to produce the case before the Court. Rather, the orders were passed casually and the case was adjourned repeatedly by the Presiding Officers of the Court. Similarly, in the last almost four years, only two witnesses have been recorded by the Court, even though, the matter was being perused by the retired Army Officer, who travels from Amritsar to Mohali to attend the Court proceedings at the age of 76 years. Still further, it appears that the Presiding Officers of the Court were unreasonably lenient and very kind to the accused in the present case,”
The High Court relied on a Supreme Court judgment in the case of Kartar Singh Vs. State of Punjab to remind that a speedy trial is very important. It not only protects the accused from unnecessary and harsh detention but also serves the society’s interest by ensuring that justice is delivered on time.
The High Court then directed the trial court handling Colonel Dhillon’s case to complete the trial and deliver a decision within eight months after receiving a copy of this order.
It also ordered that a copy of this directive should be given to all the judges who had handled the case before so that they become more careful in the future.
The Court said,
“Learned District and Sessions Judge, S.A.S. Nagar, is also directed to sent the copy of this order to all the presiding officers, who had dealt with the present case since 30.09.2021 and to advise them to be careful in future,”
Advocate Neha Shukla appeared on behalf of Colonel Dhillon, while Deputy Advocate General MS Bajwa represented the Punjab government.
Case Title:
Col. Sukhwinder Singh Dhillon v. State of Punjab
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