A bench comprising Justices MM Sundresh and Pankaj Mithal stated that since a charge sheet had been submitted in the case, it would not interfere with the FIR at this point.
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday(10th Sept) declined to intervene in a fresh FIR filed against former Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini in connection with the 1991 disappearance and murder of junior engineer Balwant Singh Multani.
A bench comprising Justices MM Sundresh and Pankaj Mithal stated that since a charge sheet had been submitted in the case, it would not interfere with the FIR at this point.
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However, the Court clarified that the observations and findings of the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s verdict dated September 8, 2020, would not impede the ongoing proceedings in the trial court.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Saini, argued for the quashing of the FIR, citing that it was lodged in 2020 decades after the alleged incident due to political motivations. He highlighted that the court had previously granted Saini relief and protection from coercive action.
Justice Sundresh reiterated that, with the charge sheet already filed, the Court could not consider quashing the FIR at this stage. The bench concluded that Saini should proceed with the trial and may challenge the proceedings through appropriate legal avenues.
On January 5, 2021, the Supreme Court requested the Punjab government to submit the charge sheet filed in the new FIR against former Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini, related to the 1991 disappearance and murder of junior engineer Balwant Singh Multani.
The Supreme Court previously granted Saini anticipatory bail in the fresh FIR, which was lodged in May 2020. On December 3, 2020, the Court set aside the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s refusal to grant him pre-arrest bail in the decades-old case. The Court reasoned that the long delay in filing the FIR was a valid factor for granting bail, noting that the complaint was lodged nearly 29 years after the incident by Multani’s brother, Palwinder Singh Multani.
The FIR accused Saini of offenses such as abduction, wrongful confinement, and causing the disappearance of evidence. Despite the new charges, Saini had already been granted anticipatory bail in connection with these allegations.
Saini, who was booked in May 2020, had initially faced allegations related to Multani’s disappearance when he was a junior engineer working for the Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Corporation. On September 8, 2020, the Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissed Saini’s pleas for anticipatory bail and quashed the fresh FIR. He had previously approached the court after his bail plea was rejected by a Mohali court on September 1, 2020.
On August 21, 2020, a Mohali court allowed the Punjab Police to add a murder charge against Saini after two co-accused, Chandigarh police personnel Jagir Singh and ASI Kuldeep Singh, turned approvers in the case.
Multani was initially arrested by the police following a 1991 terrorist attack on Saini, who was then the Senior Superintendent of Police in Chandigarh. Police later claimed Multani had escaped from custody. Saini and six others were charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code based on the complaint filed by Multani’s brother, Palwinder, in May 2020.
