Plea in Bargari case dismissed

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 19

The Punjab and Haryana High Court today dismissed a petition in a sacrilege-related case, in which an accused had claimed the special investigation team was competent only to further investigate the matter and not reinvestigate it.

Justice Harnaresh Singh Gill’s Bench, during the course of hearing, was told the investigation of all three cases related to the matter was initially handed over to the CBI. But in August 2018, the Punjab Assembly resolved to withdraw the investigations. It was alleged in one of the FIRs that some posters containing derogatory remarks were found posted outside an Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee-managed gurdwara at Bargari village on September 24-25, 2015.

Justice Gill’s Bench was also told it was not open to the police/SIT sending handwriting samples for comparison with those on the alleged posters, once the CBI got petitioner Sukhjinder Singh, alias Sunny’s, handwriting samples compared from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) and found it to be different.

Referring to the arguments by Punjab deputy advocate-general Gaurav Garg Dhuriwala, Justice Gill added the petitioner’s counsel could not show prejudice caused to his rights by objecting to his handwriting samples and sending them for comparison. Rather, by raising such objection, mid-way the investigation, the petitioner was pre-empting his guilt.