5 years on, HC grants bail to man in Moga ‘Khalistan flag’ case

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has ordered the release on regular bail of a man accused in the 2020 Moga “Khalistan flag” case after observing that he had already spent over five years in custody while the trial showed no signs of conclusion.

Allowing the appeal against the June 6, 2024, Mohali court order rejecting his earlier bail, the Division Bench Justice Deepak Sibal and Justice Lapita Banerji observed that the prosecution had failed to produce “any worthwhile material” to show a “meeting of minds/criminal conspiracy” between the appellant and the main accused.

The court observed that the appellant had “undergone an actual sentence of five years and 29 days and the end of the trial is nowhere in sight.” Out of the 149 prosecution witnesses cited, only 20 had been examined despite the charge sheet having been filed in September 2020.

“No explanation has been provided by the prosecution as to why, despite the lodging of FIR more than five years back, the trial is proceeding at such a slow pace,” the Bench observed.

The court further noted that the Special Public Prosecutor was unable to provide “any reasonable estimate of the time” required for the trial’s completion. “The Constitutional Court would like to prevent a situation where the lengthy and arduous process of trial becomes the punishment in itself,” the Bench asserted, while ordering the appellant’s release on bail.

Referring to Article 21, the judges asserted that “the fundamental right to protection of life and liberty also includes the right to a speedy trial.” The Bench added that “long custody by itself would entitle the accused under UAPA to the grant of bail by invoking Article 21 of the Constitution of India.”

The case has its genesis in August 14, 2020 incident at the office of  Moga Deputy Commissioner, where two men allegedly hoisted a saffron-yellow flag inscribed with the word “Khalistan” on the top floor of the building and cut the rope of the Indian national flag. The FIR in the matter was registered under multiple provisions of the IPC, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, and the Information Technology Act.

The prosecution’s case was the act was committed “at the behest of one Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, a declared terrorist by the Government of India and a member of the banned organisation Sikhs for Justice (SFJ).” The appellant was alleged to have given shelter to the two miscreants, including his cousin after the incident and to have transported them to Anandpur Sahib in his vehicle.

However, the court asserted that “no incriminatory material was found against the appellant, at this stage.” The only evidence connecting him with the offence was “one phone call on the day previous to the commission of offence i.e. August 13, 2020,” and “nothing else has been brought on record to link the appellant with the accused.”

The Bench concluded that “nothing else has been brought on record to corroborate radicalization and indoctrination of the youths by the appellant. No recovery has been made from the appellant, apart from his mobile phone.”