Punjab's new minister had received RI for assault

PATIALA: Dr Balbir Singh, who has now replaced Fauja Singh Sarari in the Punjab cabinet, was sentenced to 3-year rigorous imprisonment last year in an assault case, and then granted bail.
He ran an eye clinic near Gurdwara Dukh Nivaran Sahib in this city before winning the 2022 election. In 2017, he lost the contest for Patiala Urban seat to Captain Amarinder Singh, and as state AAP co-president in July 2018, he removed the-then Patiala rural president, which forced 16 party representatives to quit.
In the 2022 assembly elections, Dr Balbir Singh defeated first-time Congress candidate Mohit Mohindra, son of six-time MLA and former state minister Brahm Mohindra, by 53,474 votes for the Patiala Rural seat. Shiromani Akali Dal's Jaspal Singh Bittu Chatha and PLC's Patiala mayor Sanjeev Sharma Bittu, who is Amarinder's loyalist but Mohintra's bete noire, were among the losers.
In May 2022, the additional chief judicial magistrate of Ropar sentenced Patiala Rural AAP legislator Dr Balbir Singh to 3-year rigorous imprisonment in an 11-year-old "cross case" of assault and criminal intimidation. The court also sentenced his wife Rupinderjit Saini, son Rahul Saini, and one Parminder Singh, but all four were granted bail. Dr Balbir and others challenged the verdict in the district and sessions court, where the decision is pending. This case was registered in 2011 on the complaint of Mewa Singh and Paramjeet Kaur.
Another case pending against Dr Balbir Singh was registered at the Chamkaur Sahib police station for cheating, forgery, and criminal breach of trust.