Punjab and Haryana High Court has given relief to former DGP Sumedh Saini and stayed the framing of charges in the Balwant Singh Multani kidnapping and murder case. The police will no longer be able to frame charges in the FIR registered against him in the 1991 Balwant Singh Multani kidnapping and murder case in May 2020 at the Mataur police station in Mohali. During the hearing, the Punjab government has sought time to respond in this matter. The High Court, while giving the government time till December 10, clarified that the final argument of the case will be held on December 10. In this case, Sumedh Saini said in his petition that the Punjab government wants to arrest him at all costs. Sumedh Saini told the High Court that the petitioner was being repeatedly targeted for political reasons and the entire Punjab Police was mobilized for his arrest. After this, on 11 October 2018, the High Court had stayed his arrest in any case while he was the DGP, IGP, Head of the Department.
The petitioner said that in violation of these orders, the Punjab Police registered an FIR in 2020 in a case of 1991 during the petitioner’s tenure as SSP. He also referred to the orders of the Supreme Court in the case of Punjab Government vs. Devinderpal Singh Bhullar in similar circumstances. He also said that this incident took place in Chandigarh, while the FIR was registered in Mohali. The petitioner said that earlier the section of murder was not added in the FIR but it was added later with the aim of arresting the petitioner. He had appealed to the High Court to quash the FIR registered under murder and other sections on May 6, 2020. The petitioner has made the FIR quashed on the basis of 30 years of delay.
