Sirsa’s father gets 2-yr jail for fraud

Sandeep Rana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 1

A local court today awarded a two-year jail term to Jasbir Singh, father of senior Delhi Akali leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa, and advocate Rakesh for fabricating the general power of attorney (GPA) of late Kenyan freedom fighter Makhan Singh and his relative. Sirsa is adviser to Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and general secretary of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee.

The court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Ashwani Kumar also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 each on Jasbir, a Sirsa resident, and the advocate.

The case was registered here on the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court after the police in Delhi and Chandigarh dithered on the matter. The property in question was in Delhi’s Punjabi Bagh, while Sector 11 here was shown as the address for the GPA.

The prosecution said the property belonged to Sudh Singh, who transferred it to his son, Makhan Singh, and his relative, Tara Singh, both residents of Kenya. Makhan, known as Kenya’s Nelson Mandela, died in 1973. Jasbir got a fake GPA made in the name of Makhan and Tara Singh on July 19, 1994, at a house in Sector 11, where the duo never lived. The registry was done on July 21, 1994.

“Jasbir passed off some persons as Makhan’s son Hindapal Singh and witnesses to identify him before a magistrate to get the property transferred,” said prosecuting lawyer Prince Kumar Kundra.