CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana high court on Friday turned down the plea filed by former Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini that he should be given a seven-day notice in advance in case he is wanted in any criminal case by the Punjab police.
The high court also made it clear that Saini would join the investigation in all the cases pending against him “irrespective of the phraseology used for protection.”
On Saini’s plea for exemption from appearance before the courts in view of the fact that he is a Z-security protectee, the high court observed that the issue of exemption has to be decided by the trial court.
Saini and the State of Punjab reached a consensus that the two FIRs registered against Saini — FIRs 11 and 13 — would be investigated by a special investigation team (SIT) headed by Punjab police ADGP S S Srivastava.
The high court, however, clarified that in case the petitioner (Saini) is nominated in FIR 124 dated September 3, 2021, registered under Sections 353, 186, 323, 341 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code at Balongi police station in Mohali, the investigation of the FIR at that stage would be handed over to the SIT.
