New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notices to the Punjab government on a plea by former DGP S.S. Saini for anticipatory bail in an old 1991 case against him related to the disappearance of a man accused of being behind a blast in the state during the peak of militancy.
As per the third FIR filed in the case the man was tortured and eliminated in a police station during Saini’s tenure as SSP Chandigarh. He denies the charge and blames it on political vendetta initiated against him by the state government there.
“Am I a terrorist or a decorated police officer?” senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi argued for him in court. “This is the third FIR against me in 30 years. That too filed on the basis of a self-serving statement of an accused turned approver.”
He accused the state government of adding murder charges in yet another case against him even while the top court was dealing with his prayers. “This goes to show political vendetta.”
“How will fight the Chief Minister? How will fight a state?” he argued.
“What the state is doing to me is unfair,” Rohatgi said, pleading with the court to direct the state government not to proceed with the probe against him for now.
A bench led Justice Ashok Bhushan eventually issued notices to the state government to explain why bail should not be granted to Saini accused of being behind the disappearance of Balwant Singh Multani, the man allegedly behind a blast that was targeted at eliminating Saini.
The bench though refused to stay the probe that the Punjab government said, through Gopal Subramanium, would be now be overseen by the current DGP of the state.
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