Punjab and Haryana High Court judge recuses from hearing bail plea of Sumedh Singh Saini

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, September 4

Justice Suvir Sehgal of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday recused from hearing the anticipatory bail application filed by former Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini in the Balwant Singh Multani disappearance and murder case.

Earlier, Justice Amol Rattan Singh had recused from the case.

As of now, there are no interim protection orders in Saini’s favour. A file will now be put up before the Chief Justice for listing before another Bench.

Also read: Ex-DGP Sumedh Saini underground, Z+ security not pruned: Punjab Govt

In his anticipatory bail application running into more than 280 pages, Saini had submitted that the court of Mohali Additional Sessions Judge Monika Goyal initially granted bail to the petitioner. Four more police officers were subsequently granted bail and the nature of allegations were considered in both orders.

But Mohali Additional Sessions Judge Rajnish Garg, while deciding the application for bail after addition of murder offence under Section 302 of the IPC, reviewed the finding as well as the observations recorded by Judge Monika Goyal in her earlier order dated May 11 on every count.

This, his counsel HS Deol submitted, was impermissible in law. He submitted the only reason given by the presiding officer was that the present bail application has been “filed after addition of offence under Section 302 of the IPC as certain more evidence has been collected by the investigating agency”.