Photo Source: Babushahi Bureau
Supreme Court refuses to quash FIR against former Punjab DGP Saini in Multani case
Babushahi Bureau
New Delhi, September 10, 2024: The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to quash the fresh FIR filed against former Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Sumedh Singh Saini in the 1991 case of the disappearance and murder of junior engineer Balwant Singh Multani.
A bench of Justices MM Sundaresh and Pankaj Mithal said they would not interfere in the FIR in view of the charge sheet being filed in the case.
However, the court said that the observations and findings recorded in the judgment dated September 8, 2020 of the Punjab and Haryana High Court will not come in the way of proceedings in the lower court.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Saini, sought quashing of the FIR, saying it was filed for political reasons in 2020, many years after the alleged incident.
He said that this court has repeatedly given relief to Saini and the court has also saved him from punishable action in this case. Justice Sundaresh said that since the charge sheet has been filed in the case, he cannot reject the FIR at this stage.The bench said that Saini could face the proceedings in the lower court and challenge it at the appropriate forum.
On January 5, 2021, the Supreme Court had asked the Punjab government to submit the charge sheet filed in the fresh FIR against Saini in this case.
The Supreme Court had already granted anticipatory bail to Saini in a fresh FIR filed in the 1991 Multani disappearance and murder case. On December 3, 2020, the Supreme Court granted anticipatory bail to Saini in a fresh case filed in connection with the 1991 incident.
The court had set aside the Punjab and Haryana High Court's order denying bail to Saini in the 33-year-old case. The Supreme Court had held that in the present case the long delay in lodging the FIR could be a valid reason for granting anticipatory bail.