On Friday, the Mohali court dismissed the applications of three co-accused in the case of Balwant Singh Multani’s disappearance to convert the approver to seek pardon. All three former UT cops registered their statements before the judicial magistrates in Mohali on separate dates under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).The SIT conducting the investigation of the case make an appeal to the court for pardon of the accused.

Petition to Turn Approver to Seek Pardon Rejected
Petition to Turn Approver to Seek Pardon Rejected

Facts of the case

The then Inspector Jagir Singh, Sub-Inspector Harsahai Sharma and Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Kuldeep Singh made an application to the court seeking permission to turn the Approvers. Together with former Director General of Police (DGP) Sumedh Singh Saini, Multani, a Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Corporation (CITCO) employee, was recruited on 6th May this year for the disappearance of Multani in 1991. In the case, Saini is the prime accused.

All three former UT cops registered their statements under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) before the judicial magistrates in Mohali on different dates. While Jagir Singh had reported his testimony before the court magistrate Amit Bakshi, Harsahai Sharma and Kuldeep Singh did the same thing before the court magistrate Harjinder Kaur. Currently, the SIT is going to file a motion on behalf of the three defendants to bring the prosecutors into the trial, it is known.

Also read: PAROLE FROM PUNJAB AND HARYANA HIGH COURT

Legal Issue

Whether the former UT cops’ petition to turn approver can be accepted?

Legal standpoint

Chief Judicial Magistrate Deepika Singh said that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) examining the case may make a request to the court for pardon of the accused. In the present scenario, it was considered appropriate for the investigative agency to apply its mind independently and to move an application for pardon that there is no direct evidence available to it. The Organization will decide how it can gather evidence in such a way as to bring any of the suspects to court or to have any of them accepted.

Jagir Singh is also co-accused, along with then Inspector Anokh Singh, in another first information report (FIR) in the same episode recorded at the Kharar Sadar Police Station in the Mohali district on 27 July of this year on charges of fabricating evidence under Section 195-A (manufacturing evidence) of the Indian Criminal Code (IPC) on the complaint of Kharar (Sadar) station house office, inspector Anokh was arrested and returned to jail after a three-day period of police custody. Jagir and Anokh Singh are also co-accused of Multani ‘s alleged disappearance in the previous FIR registered at the Mataur Police Station against Saini. In this case, the two had been bailed out.

Also read: Apply for Parole in High Court Chandigarh

Conclusion

In the case of Balwant Singh Multani ‘s disappearance, the court rejected the applications by three co-accused to convert the approver to seek pardon. The three along with former Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini were booked on May 6 this year; judge says sit probing the case with the court for the pardon.In the present situation, it was deemed necessary for the investigating agency to apply its mind independently and to push an application for parole to the extent that there was no clear evidence available to it.

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This post is written by Kosha Doshi. More on 99888-17966.