Supreme Court Declines to Interfere with FIR Against Former Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini

Supreme Court Declines to Interfere with FIR Against Former Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini

In a significant development, the Supreme Court of India on Tuesday refused to interfere with a fresh FIR filed against former Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Sumedh Singh Saini in connection with the 1991 disappearance and murder of junior engineer Balwant Singh Multani.

The bench, comprising Justices MM Sundresh and Pankaj Mithal, decided not to intervene in the matter, citing the recent filing of a chargesheet in the case. The court, however, specified that the observations and findings recorded in the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s September 8, 2020, verdict would not hinder proceedings before the trial court.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Saini, argued for the quashing of the FIR, suggesting it was filed in 2020 after a long delay due to political motives. He emphasized that Saini, a decorated police officer, had previously been granted relief from coercive actions by the court.

Justice Sundresh noted that since a chargesheet had been filed, the court could not consider quashing the FIR at this stage. The bench advised Saini to face the trial court proceedings and to challenge them through appropriate legal forums if necessary.

On January 5, 2021, the Supreme Court had requested the Punjab government to present the chargesheet related to the fresh FIR against Saini. Earlier, on December 3, 2020, the top court had granted anticipatory bail to Saini in the same case, overturning a decision by the Punjab and Haryana High Court that had denied him pre-arrest bail.

The court had acknowledged that the significant delay in filing the FIR, which was lodged 29 years after the incident, was a valid factor in granting anticipatory bail. The FIR, dated May 6, 2020, was filed by Palwinder Singh Multani, the brother of the deceased, alleging offenses including abduction, disappearance of evidence, wrongful confinement, and criminal conspiracy.

Saini was initially booked in May 2020 for the disappearance of Multani, who was a junior engineer with the Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Corporation (Citco) at the time. The FIR was registered at Mataur police station in Mohali under various sections of the Indian Penal Code.

Previously, on September 8, 2020, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had dismissed Saini’s pleas for anticipatory bail and had quashed the fresh FIR. This followed a Mohali court’s decision on August 21, 2020, allowing the addition of a murder charge against Saini after former Chandigarh Police personnel, Jagir Singh and Kuldeep Singh, turned approvers in the case.

Multani was reportedly detained by police following a terrorist attack on Saini in 1991. The police later claimed that Multani had escaped from custody in Gurdaspur. The case against Saini and six others was filed based on the complaint of Multani’s brother, Palwinder Singh, under various IPC sections.