Multani case: Mohali court denies plea of withdrawal of KIP Singh’s arrest warrants

Multani case: Mohali court denies plea of withdrawal of KIP Singh’s arrest warrants

Harshabab Sidhu
Nabaz-e-Punjab, Mohali, November 25:
Mohali court today denied the application for withdrawal of arrest warrant of the then SHO (Station House Officer) of Sector 17 police station, Chandigarh in the case of alleged murder of Balwant Singh Multani, a resident of Mohali and Junior Engineer (JE) of CITCO, three decades ago, in which former DGP Sumedh Saini is facing charges.
The victim’s family had been demanding why no action was being taken against KIP Singh, the then SHO of the Sector 17 police station, where Multani was illegally detained and tortured. The court had on October 19 issued an arrest warrant for KIP Singh.
Advocate Pardeep Singh Virk, who is prosecuting the case to get justice to the victim’s family, had filed an application in the court in which he stated that Balwant Singh Multani was abducted by the police from his house in Phase 7 on December 11, 1991 and was kept in illegal custody at Sector 17 police station, where he was brutally tortured following which he died. He stated in the plea that still no action has been taken against the then SHO of the concerned police station. Similarly, when the murder charge against the former DGP was added, the then police station chief was also named in the case on the complaint of the victim’s family but no legal action was being taken against him so far.
Meanwhile, KIP Singh, through his lawyer, had filed an application in Mohali court seeking immediate withdrawal of the arrest warrant issued against him as he had not run away from the law but had gone abroad for work. The court had issued notice to the Punjab government in this regard and asked it to file a reply. The Punjab government had filed its written reply seeking the court to dismiss the mercy petition of the then police chief. The public prosecutor said it was a very serious matter hence the appeal of the then police chief to withdraw the arrest warrant issued against him should be rejected. He said his warrants could not be revoked unless he appeared in court or with the police. They are making excuses to avoid the legal process, he added. According to the public prosecutor, when the name of then SHO was added in the case, he went abroad without telling the court despite knowing everything.
Meanwhile, former DGP Sumedh Saini, who is facing serious charges of murder of Balwant Singh Multani, three decades ago, is on bail and a criminal case registered at Mataur police station is pending in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has reserved its decision on the matter and Sikhs around the world are relying on the court’s verdict but the wait for the verdict is getting longer. Saini has pleaded not guilty and sought immediate dismissal of the FIR registered against him at the Mataur police station and bail. In his petition, Saini said the matter was politically motivated.