Chandigarh, November 13
Declining Punjabi singer Daler Mehndi’s prayer for the grant of anticipatory bail in two first information reports (FIRs) registered against him, Mr Justice Mehtab Singh Gill of the Punjab and Haryana High Court today ruled that the “custodial interrogation of the petitioner would be necessary”. The singer was apprehending arrest in human trafficking case registered at Patiala, along with another case.
In a related development, Mr Justice Gill took a serious note of the allegations of harassment levelled against the investigating agency by the singer and directed Inspector General of Patiala range to submit an affidavit. Mr Justice Gill also issued notice of motion to the state of Punjab.
Meanwhile, the complainant in the case, Bakshish Singh, filed a petition in the High Court claiming that the entire team looking into the matter had been transferred at the behest of Punjab Chief Minister’s Adviser.
Pronouncing the orders this afternoon, Mr Justice Gill directed that in case the petitioner is arrested, “he shall be medically examined at least once a week at Patiala’s Rajindera Hospital. His counsel would also be entitled to meet the petitioner twice everyday at 10 am and 7 pm”.
In his detailed eight-page order, the Judge held: “I have perused the order of the Delhi High Court.... Grave and serious allegations have been levelled against the petitioner in the FIR by complainant Bakshish Singh. He has stated in the FIR that he met the petitioner on July 27 in Delhi. The petitioner assured him that his work had been done and that he could take the passport after giving Rs 5 lakh.”
The Judge further held: “As per the FIR, many other persons have also been cheated. In the head note of the petition, it has been mentioned that 32 more complaints are pending before the Investigating Officer. It comes out that not only the complainant was duped, but apart from him 32 more persons were also duped of lakhs of rupees by the petitioner with the promise that they will be taken to the USA or Canada. In the case in hand, the custodial interrogation of the petitioner would be necessary. The prayer for the bail in the FIRs is declined”.
In the other order, the Judge ruled: “During the course of arguments, counsel has made grave and serious allegations against the investigating agency. He has stated when the petitioner went to present himself before the investigating officer on October 27, an unruly mob was collected by the investigating officer and the petitioner’s car was smashed”.
The Judge added: “The petitioner has further stated that he was made to take off his trousers and was made to sing songs to humiliate him. The court is inclined to take notice of certain paragraphs of the petition and an annexure.” The case will now come up for further hearing on November 20.
Claiming to have been implicated in the case, Daler Mehndi had earlier asserted that he had no connection with the complainant. He had added that the transfer of Senior Superintendent of Punjab Police (SSP) Paramraj Singh Umranangal from Patiala was an indicator of “something being wrong” with the investigation of the cases registered against him.
Mehndi had further asserted that he had severed ties with brother Shamsher Singh, also an accused, way back in 1998. The decision was taken after he came to know about Shamsher Singh’s alleged involvement in impersonating him at public functions. In fact, he had also issued a notice to this effect.
