Chandigarh: Court declines CBI request for adjourning Sippy murder case

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Advertisement

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 8

Inderjeet Singh, Special Judicial Magistrate, CBI, Chandigarh, rejected the request of the investigating agency to adjourn the Sippy murder case on the grounds that further investigation is pending.

The 2015 murder

• Punjab and Haryana High Court advocate and national shooter Sukhmanpreet Singh Sidhu was murdered on September, 20, 2015. Neither the police nor the CBI has been able to nail the killers. After Sippy’s murder, the police had registered a case against unknown person. When the police could not solve the case, it was transferred to the CBI in 2016.

In the order, the court observed that the grounds for seeking adjournment were totally unjustified because an untraced report had already been filed by the agency.

The court stated, “After filing of the untraced report, the investigating agency is at liberty to investigate and collect new evidence at its own level but the same is not an embargo upon the power of the court to accept or reject the untraced report already filed by the investigating agency.”

The court further stated that as far as the order dated December 14, 2020, passed by predecessor court was concerned, the CBI was directed to file a fresh report as per the investigation. The direction was only with respect to the polygraph test of suspects Simrandeep Singh Sandhu and Karampal Singh, but both the suspects had already withdrawn their consent to go through the test.

The court made the observation after investigating officer RL Yadav made a written request for an adjournment in the case stating that further investigation in the case was on and some time was required to conclude it.

The case was fixed for filing a protest petition by aggrieved persons, Deepinder Kaur and Jasmanpreet Singh Sidhu, on the untraced report filed by the CBI.

Deepinder Kaur also requested for an adjournment of at least one month due to a death in the family. She needed time so as to go through the record and to file a protest petition. The court declined her request also. The court stated that the request was totally unjustified as sufficient time had already been granted to them to file a protest petition.

The court has now fixed November 18 as the next date in the case for the purpose of filing point-wise and specific protest petition, if any, and an alternative for consideration on the untraced report filed by the CBI.

The CBI had filed the untraced report in December last year. However, the CBI had mentioned that the investigation was being kept open and requested for directions under Section 173 (8) of the CrPC to continue further investigation.

The family members of advocate Sukhmanpreet Singh Sidhu, alias Sippy, have opposed the untraced report filed by the CBI.

Punjab and Haryana High Court advocate and national shooter Sukhmanpreet Singh Sidhu was murdered on September, 20, 2015. Neither the police nor the CBI has been able to nail the killers. Raising questions over the CBI’s untraced report, Sippy’s brother said there was ample evidence against the suspect in the case. After Sippy’s murder, the police had registered a case against unknown person. When the police could not solve the case, it was transferred to the CBI in 2016.