Tarn Taran court orders release of Kanchanpreet Kaur from police custody

After the night-long proceedings at the district court here, Judicial Magistrate Pankaj Verma ordered the release of Kanchanpreet Kaur from police custody in the wee hours of Sunday.

The verdict which was pronounced at 4 am brought a wave of happiness to Akali leaders and workers.

Flanked by Akali leaders of the region, including Virsa Singh Valtoha, Kanchanpreet expressed her happiness at the verdict and faith in the judiciary.

Earlier, she was arrested by the Chabal police on Friday.

She is the daughter of Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sukhwinder Kaur Randhawa, who unsuccessfully contested the Tarn Taran assembly by-poll recently.

On the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the police were ordered to hand over Kanchanpreet to judicial custody on Saturday and were asked to wait for her lawyers to reach the district court till 8 pm.  

Meanwhile, the state government also submitted an application from the office of the advocate-general and the arguments could begin only at 10 pm. The proceedings concluded at about 2 am on Sunday and the order of releasing her was passed at 4 am.

SAD leaders have been condemning the arrest as politically motivated. They argued that the arrest was a vengeful act targeting an innocent woman.