Sukhbir Badal gets court notice in Kotkapura police firing case

Faridkot, March 17

A day after the court of the Additional District and Sessions Judge denied anticipatory bail to former Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal in the October 2015 Kotkapura police firing case, the police on Friday issued him a notice to appear before the court on March 23 here.

Gurmail Singh, ASI in Faridkot police, served the notice on Sukhbir through his security in-charge Harmeek Singh Deol on Friday in Bathinda. Sukhbir had come to Bathinda to participate in a dharna against the government.

The SIT, probing cases of sacrilege and police firing in 2015, had filed a charge sheet in the court of the Judicial Magistrate Class I (JMIC), Faridkot, on February 24, indicting former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Sukhbir Badal, former DGP Sumedh Singh Saini and three other police officials.

While Badal was allowed anticipatory bail by the court, the court denied relief to Sukhbir.

While denying him anticipatory bail, the court on Thursday referred to the SIT report, which among other things, stated that Sukhbir had intentionally abandoned the law and order of the state on October 12, 2015, and left for Gurugram despite having knowledge of the third sacrilege incident and growing resentment among the Sikh sangat at Bargari and Kotkapura with an intention to use his absence as an excuse to evade responsibility of illegal action of the police under Sumedh Singh Saini.

“Having regard to such nature and gravity of the offence, this court does not deem it a fit case to extend the benefit of anticipatory bail,” reads the order.

The anticipatory bails of former DGP Sumedh Singh Saini and IGP Paramraj Singh Umranangal are also pending for hearing on March 20.