{Multani disappearance case} Trial court commits case involving ex-DGP Saini to sessions court

Days after the Punjab and Haryana high court stayed trial court proceedings against the former director general of police (DGP), Sumedh Singh Saini, in the 1991 disappearance of Balwant Singh Multani, an employee of Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Corporation (CITCO), the local court of judicial magistrate first class has committed the case to the court of sessions.

The court said since murder sections have been added to the case, the offences under Section 302 (murder) and 364 (abduction) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) are exclusively triable by the court of sessions.

The high court in its order on November 25 had stayed trial court proceedings deferring hearing for December 12 and had asked the Punjab police to respond to the issues raised by the former DGP by November 30. The DGP was also told to submit his response by the adjourned date.

Saini was booked in May 2020, almost 30 years after Multani went missing, during the regime of the Congress government in Punjab. Saini and six others were booked on the complaint of Multani’s brother, Palwinder Singh Multani, who is a resident of Jalandhar. The case was registered against them under sections 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence), 344 (wrongful confinement), 330 (voluntarily causes hurt) and 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Mataur police station in Mohali. In the chargesheet, murder charges were also invoked. Saini secured anticipatory bail from the Supreme Court on December 3, 2020.

Saini was nominated and sections 302 (murder) were added in August 2020 following disclosure statements of police inspectors Jagir Singh and Kuldeep Singh who turned approvers in the case.

As per the case, Multani was allegedly picked up by two officers in 1991 after a terrorist attack on Saini, who then was Chandigarh’s senior superintendent of police (SSP), in which four policemen in his security were killed. The police later claimed that Multani escaped from the custody of the Qadian police.

Accused Jagir Singh and Kuldeep Singh have claimed that Multani was tortured under the instructions of Saini, which resulted in his death and they had gone to Qadian as per instructions of ex-DGP to cover up the offence. The approver Jagir Singh also disclosed that in order to dispose of the body, the former police chief deputed Baldev Singh Saini.

“It appears that prima facie, the offences made out against the accused Sumedh Singh Saini and Kanwal Inder Pal Singh are punishable under Sections 302, 364, 201, 344, 330, 219, 120B of the IPC. The offences under Section 302 and 364 IPC are exclusively triable by the Court of Sessions. Accordingly, the instant case is committed to the Court of Sessions Judge, SAS Nagar, Mohali, for January 07, 2025”, reads the order of the court of Sangam Kaushal, JMIC, Mohali.