Court upholds Colonel Sandhu’s conviction in Forest Hill Resort case

A local court upheld the conviction of WorldWide Immigration Consultancy Services (WWICS) founder Colonel Baljit Singh Sandhu (retd.) in a 2009 violation of Forest Conservation Act case related to the Forest Hill Resort, simultaneously ordering his release on probation.

Sandhu, 70, was convicted under Section 2 of Forest Conservation Act, 1980, and sentenced 15 days imprisonment on September 17, 2009.

Subsequently, he filed an appeal — the oldest criminal appeal pending in the Mohali court in the action plan category — as the case dragged on for more than a decade, awaiting directions from the High Court.

On June 26, the court had dismissed Sandhu’s application seeking compounding of offence (compromise) as the court found it untenable at the face of it.

Fifteen years and 63 hearings later — the first one being on November 25, 2014 — the court, on Monday, held that Sandhu need not go to jail but serve his sentence under the supervision of a probation officer.

“He shall furnish probation bonds of Rs 50,000 with one surety in the like amount for a period of six months and to appear and receive the sentence whenever called upon during such period and to keep good behaviour. The probation bonds be furnished till 12.8.2025 before the court,” the order read, also noting that the accused “would not be burdened with any disqualification attached to conviction”.

Taking a lenient view on the sentence, the court observed that the accused was in advanced age and of frail health. “The appellant is first offender and not a previous convict... In case benefit of probation should be granted to the convict, he will rather prove to be good citizen in future,” the judgment read.

The appellant can challenge the sentence and file a revision petition in the higher court.

The case traces back its origins to a November 4, 2001, complaint filed by the Rupnagar Divisional Forest Officer, noting that a forest guard, Sunil Kumar, noticed some unusual development regarding change of land use in the forest reserve area in Karoran village by Sandhu. When the guard tried to go inside the estate, he was not permitted. The forest guard prepared the damage report, bringing this fact to the notice of his higher-ups, following which a formal complaint was filed against Sandhu, a Sector 10 resident.

Assertions against the accused were that he changed use of land locked as per Section 4 and 5 of Land Preservation Act, 1900 and contravened various provisions under Forest Conservation Act 1980, also disobeying the directions issued by Supreme Court.

The proceedings in the appeal noted that the forest guard in his testimony deposed about forest land being converted into a golf club, Dashmesh Academy, and other buildings.

Notably, Forest Hill Resort had recently been under Supreme Court appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) gaze as CEC member Chandra Parkash Goyal visited Karoran, Masol and Siswan to verify complaints of alleged encroachments and violations of the forest laws.