The Supreme Court on Tuesday gave former Punjab Director General of Police Sumedh Singh Saini protection from imminent arrest while asking the State government to respond to his plea for bail in the Balwant Singh Multani disappearance case of 1991.
“This case is of 1991. After 30 years, what is the hurry to arrest him?”, a three-judge Bench led by Justice Ashok Bhushan asked the government side.
In 1991, Multani, was picked up after an attack on Mr. Saini and three police officers. The three died and Saini was grievously injured. The police later claimed that Multani escaped custody and disappeared. However, a murder charge was recently added to the case after two of the accused policemen in the case turned approvers. An FIR was registered against Mr. Saini on the basis of a compliant by Multani's family.
The police have been conducting raids to nab Mr. Saini since then. The Punjab and Haryana High Court refused his plea for anticipatory bail earlier this month.
On Tuesday, the court asked Mr. Saini to cooperate with the investigation. He will not be arrested till further orders, it said.
‘Decorated officer’
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, for Mr. Saini, contended that his client was a decorated officer and suffered bullet injuries. He argued that the case against Mr. Saini was politically motivated and steered by the Congress government in Punjab. It had been 29 years since Multani “escaped” custody. Mr. Saini was an SSP at the time of the attack. Multani, on the other hand, was a proclaimed offender.
“The FIR in this case was registered in a mala fide fashion. Mr. Saini is retired and he was granted anticipatory bail by the district court”, Mr. Rohatgi submitted.
Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, for the government, objected to the plea for bail. He said Mr. Saini was still an influential person with power to intimidate witnesses. “Even after retirement, the accused has the audacity and power to have some files under his control. How can this be allowed?”, he said.
The court directed Mr. Luthra to submit a detailed reply in three weeks.