The Supreme Court on April 28 quashed cheating and forgery charges against former Punjab Chief Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) patriarch Parkash Singh Badal two days after he passed away.
A Bench led by Justice M. R. Shah, in a judgment, said the criminal proceedings against Badal and his son and SAD president, Sukhbir Singh Badal, before a Hoshiarpur court in Punjab was an “abuse of process of law” and a “fit case for quashing the entire proceedings”.
People queue up to pay last respects to Parkash Singh Badal
Justice Shah, who pronounced the judgment, observed that the facts of the case did not contain any of the ingredients of the offences under which the Badals were charged and arraigned as accused.
The case pertains to allegations that SAD had submitted a false undertaking to seek recognition from the Election Commission of India.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court on August 27, 2021 had dismissed the plea filed by the Badals and others against an order of additional chief judicial magistrate Hoshiarpur who had summoned them in the case.
Social activist Balwant Singh Khera had filed a complaint against the Badals and Daljit Singh Cheema in 2009, alleging that the SAD had two constitutions, one that it submitted to the Gurdwara Election Commission and the other to the Elections Commission of India (ECI) to seek recognition as a political party.
Mr. Khera had alleged that the SAD had given a false undertaking to the ECI that it had amended its constitution to incorporate principles of socialism and secularism, whereas it continued its activities as a ‘Panthic’ party and participated in the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) elections.
