New Delhi: The Supreme Court today granted anticipatory
bail to former Punjab police chief Sumedh Singh Saini in a 1991 case related to
the disappearance of a junior engineer of the Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism
Corporation.
A bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan said Mr
Saini must cooperate with the probe and surrender his passport to authorities.
It set aside a trial court and High Court
order, and said if he is arrested, he must be released on a personal bond
of ? 1 lakh. The bench also asked him to stay away from witnesses in
the alleged murder case.
Mr Saini had approached the top court,
challenging a September 7 order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court,
dismissing his anticipatory bail plea in the case.
A 1982-batch IPS officer, Mr Saini was part of
then DGP KPS Gill's team that helped eliminate terrorism in the state in the
1980s and 1990s. His bail petition in this case said he has an outstanding
service record.
A case was filed by the Mohali police in May
against the former Director General Police in connection with the disappearance
of the junior engineer Balwant Singh Multani in 1991.
Mr Multani was picked up by the police
following an August 29, 1991, terrorist attack on Mr Saini, then the Chandigarh
Senior Superintendent of Police. The attack killed three policemen, besides
injuring Mr Saini himself.
Investigations
found that Devendar Singh Bhullar, who is now on life sentence, and Mr Multani
were involved in the case, according to an ANI report.
Later it was claimed that Mr Multani had
"fled from police custody on December 19, 1991".
The Supreme Court had earlier, too, granted
the veteran officer interim protection from arrest in this matter.
In August, the police reportedly added a
murder charge in the case after two former Chandigarh police officers turned approvers.
Mr Saini
retired in 2018 after 36 years of service and had sought the quashing of the
case against him.
"There are scores of death threats on
this man. He took part in hundreds of operations and busted terror networks.
When he was a DGP, he lodged five cases against current Chief Minister,"
Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi had told the court earlier, appearing for Mr
Saini.
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