CHANDIGARH, JANUARY 30: Rejecting it as an attempt by the petitioner to transform the case into a media trial against the Minister, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday dismissed a petition to name Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa as an accused in the murder case of ex-Sarpanch Dhilwan, while also rejecting the petitioner’s demand for transferring the case to the CBI.
In a major blow to the Akalis’ efforts to implicate Randhawa in the case, the High Court, while dismissing the petition of the deceased’s son Sandeep Singh, made it clear that it was totally satisfied with the efforts of Punjab Police and the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to solve the case, according to the AG Punjab Office.
Randhawa has, in recent weeks, been at the centre of a brazen conspiracy by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) to corner him and frame him on the basis of unfounded allegations, including accusations of nexus with gangsters and drug smugglers. However, the Jails Minister, backed by Chief Minister Captain Amarinder and other senior colleagues as well as party leaders, has been successfully nailing the SAD lies with hard facts.
The High Court’s verdict in the Dhilwan murder case has further exposed the Akali machinations to target the Minister and damage his reputation through false allegations, pointed out an official spokesperson.
Sandeep Singh, in his petition in the High Court, had sought direction to protect his life and liberty and property and that of his family members. He had also sought transfer of the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), on the ground saying the local police was acting under pressure of Cabinet Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and a fair probe would be possible only by an independent agency as he apprehended that Randhawa was behind the murder.
Categorically rejecting the petitioner’s demand for transfer of the case, the Singe Bench Justice Ramendra Jain, observed that the Petitioner was trying to make the entire case into a media trial but made it clear that “the court will not allow this”, according to the AG Punjab office.
Official sources further disclosed that, on the basis of the affidavit filed by the Special Investigating Team (SIT), the AG Punjab office counsel had submitted before the court that three accused had already been arrested in the case and a chargesheet had been submitted on January 29, 2020. The SIT headed by IGP Border Range S.P.S. Parmar was constituted by the DGP Punjab to ensure a speedy and thorough investigation into the case.
The three accused, identified as Amritpal Singh, Lakhwinder Singh@Lakha and Balwinder Singh s/o Bachan Singh r/o Dhilwan, PS Kotli Surat Malli, Batala, had been arrested in the case of former Sarpanch Dalbir Singh of village Dhilwan PS kotli Surat Malli of police District Batala, in FIR no. 86 dated 19-11-2019 u/s 302,148,149 IPC, 25-54-59 Arms Act PS Kotli Surat Malli. While these three accused had been named in the FIR, seven more suspects were later nominated in the case during police investigation.
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