Nine years on, CBI court frames murder charges against Kalyani in Sippy Sidhu case

After a delay of nearly nine years, the trial court on Saturday finally framed charges against Kalyani Singh, the prime accused in the 2015 Sippy Sidhu murder case that sent shockwaves through the city.

The special CBI court framed charges against Kalyani, 37, daughter of former Punjab and Haryana high court judge justice Sabina (retd), under Sections 302 (murder), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence or giving false information to protect the offender) of the Indian Penal Code.

National-level shooter and lawyer Sukhmanpreet Singh, better known as Sippy Sidhu, was shot dead at a park in Sector 27 on September 20, 2015.

His family has accused Kalyani of killing him as they had turned down her marriage proposal. The special CBI judge Alka Malik ordered day-to-day hearings till conclusion of trial. The case is now adjourned till July 8.

Also read: Sippy Sidhu murder: Can’t allow unrestricted access to probe material: HC on Kalyani’s plea

Twists and turns

The sensational case was initially probed by the Chandigarh Police, but in 2016, it was transferred to CBI following protests by Sippy’s family. The central agency had at one point of time also filed an “untraced” report. But in June 2022, she was arrested by CBI and later charged with murder.

However, charges could not be framed by the special CBI court, hearing the murder trial, amid filing of one or the other applications by Kalyani, who has been out on bail since September 2022.

Even on Saturday, she filed another application for case record, but it was strongly opposed by Narender Singh, the public prosecutor. Terming it repetitive in nature, the special CBI court dismissed it.

Was driven by the obsession of failed love affair: CBI

On the night of September 20, 2015, at 9.56 pm, police got a call (from a Sector 27 resident) about hearing gunshots and a body lying in a park of Sector 27-B.

Within 20 minutes, police rushed to the park to find the bullet-riddled body of Sippy Sidhu lying in a pool of blood on the walking track, merely 10 metres from the park’s entry gate.

Post-mortem revealed that Sippy was “shot with a smooth-bore weapon” from a close range and one was contact fire. He was shot four times.

When CBI took over the case in 2016, it found that Kalyani was in a close relationship with Sippy, but he refused to marry her. Also, Sippy leaked/shared her objectionable photographs to her friends and family, who then met Sippy and pleaded him to delete all such pictures.

“Kalyani driven by the obsession of failed love affair (rejection of marriage proposal), fuelled by feeling of anger and morbid jealousy (due to affair of Sippy with another girl) and humiliation/embarrassment to the family (due to leakage of her objectionable photographs) hatched a conspiracy with unknown assailant and called Sippy to the Sector 27 park and killed him by using a .12-bore gun,” the CBI chargesheet concluded, adding that there is “sufficient evidence to substantiate allegations against Kalyani Singh.

As the weapon and cartridge were not recovered from the spot, CBI alleged Kalyani, along with the co-assailant, caused destruction of evidence. Nearly nine years later, the CBI has neither been able to arrest the second assailant in the crime nor recovered the weapon used in the crime.

Nine years of legal wrangles and procedural delays

September 20, 2015: Sippy Sidhu shot dead at a park in Sector 27, Chandigarh

October 10: Police question Kalyani Singh, his former girlfriend and daughter of serving Punjab and Haryana high court judge, justice Sabina

December 24: Unhappy over probe, Sippy’s family stages silent protest near the PM residence in New Delhi

January 20, 2016: Investigation transferred to CBI

December 7, 2020: Untraced reported filed by CBI

December 14: Trial court directs CBI to submit fresh final report

June 15, 2022: Kalyani arrested by CBI nearly seven years after the murder

September 12: CBI submits chargesheet indicting her

September 13: HC grants bail to Kalyani

February 4, 2023: Trial court dismisses last of the fourth application by Kalyani, demanding case record

May 8, 2023: HC directs CBI to provide the case record to her

May 4, 2024: Rounds of dozens of applications by Kalyani in the trial court, high court and Supreme Court culminate with the special CBI court dismissing her final application, terming it “repetitive”

May 4, 2024 : Special CBI court frames murder charges

National-level shooter and corporate lawyer

A rifle shooter, Sukhmanpreet Singh, alias Sippy Sidhu, had won the team gold along with Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra in the Punjab National Games in 2001. Representing Punjab, he had been on the shooting circuit for more than 15 years and won medals at various shooting competitions. He was also a joint secretary of the Paralympic Committee of India. A sports promoter, who organised events to provide platform to youngsters, Sippy was also proprietor of the “Sippy Sidhu Law Firm”, based in Chandigarh.

His late grandfather, SS Sidhu, was a former Punjab and Haryana high court judge and late father, IPS Sidhu, was the additional advocate general of Punjab. His mother, Deepinder Sidhu, 69, a homemaker and brother Jasmanpreet Singh Sidhu, 39, an advocate and legal adviser for SGPC, live in Phase 3B2, Mohali.

Kalyani lost govt teaching job post arrest

Kalyani started working as an assistant professor in home science at Post-Graduate Government College for Girls in Sector 42 on August 14, 2017. Her service was extended every year thereafter.

After her arrest by CBI in June 2022, her services were terminated while she was in judicial custody, citing Clause 13 of her appointment letter, which mentioned unsatisfactory work and conduct due to an FIR and her subsequent arrest.

After her release from custody, she appealed to the UT director of higher education for reinstatement, citing the bail order from the high court. The education department responded that her contract explicitly stated that if the applicant’s work and conduct were unsatisfactory, it could be terminated without notice. She is now employed as a part-time teacher at a private university in the city.

Recently, in February, the Chandigarh bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal had rejected Kalyani’s appeal against termination of her teaching position by the director of higher education, Chandigarh.

Got bail in less than 90 days

Arrested on June 15, 2022, Kalyani secured bail from the Punjab and Haryana high court in less than 90 days. The bail order, on September 13, 2022, coincided with CBI submitting chargesheet against her, accusing her of murder amid allegations from Sippy’s family.

In the bail order, the high court had observed that CBI appeared to have “chosen to ill indulge in taking the services of tutored and planted witnesses merely for solving the crime”. The court even remarked that the CBI appeared to have failed to live up to its credentials. It pointed out that Sippy Sidhu was being targeted by some persons. But CBI did not investigate that angle. CBI appeal against the high court order is pending before the Supreme Court.

Amid allegations, mother transferred out of HC in 2016

Barely five months after the UT administration handed over the probe to CBI in January 2016, justice Sabina, Kalyani’s mother, was transferred to the Rajasthan high court in June 2016. Prior to this development, Sippy’s family had been petitioning in the high court as well as the Supreme Court, accusing her of influencing the probe. Even her farewell ceremony, organised by the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association, was marred by Sippy’s relatives protesting outside the venue at the high court complex.

After serving in Rajasthan for five years, she was transferred to the Himachal Pradesh high court in 2021, where she served as the acting chief justice twice. She was recommended as chief justice of the HP high court by the Supreme Court collegium in February 2023. But she retired without the elevation, as the central government did not come out with a notification. The reasons were not made public. She demitted office on April 19, 2023.

‘Won’t get my son back even if she is hanged’

Sippy’s mother Deepinder Kaur broke into tears as the judge framed murder charges against Kalyani. “Sippy ne taan mudke auna nahi, chahe isnu fansi vi lag jaave (I won’t get my son back, even if she is hanged to death),” she cried outside the courtroom, adding that she had not lost faith in the judiciary and will wait for justice to be delivered.

Sippy’s brother Jasmanpreet said, “Justice delayed is justice denied. However, we still have faith in the judiciary. I still remember how my mother and I ran from pillar to post to get a fair investigation done. We approached the Union home ministry to get the case transferred to CBI. Had Chandigarh Police done their job, the case would not have moved at a snail’s pace.”