SC refuses to quash fresh FIR against Saini in ’91 murder case

The Supreme Court on Tuesday turned down former Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini’s petition seeking quashing of a fresh FIR lodged against him in connection with the 1991 disappearance and murder of junior engineer Balwant Singh Multani, saying a chargesheet had already been filed in the case.

Multani was picked as terror suspect

• Balwant Multani, a JE with the Chandigarh tourism corporation, was ‘tortured to death in police custody’
• Saini was the Chandigarh SSP then; Multani was allegedly picked as a suspect in a terror case that left three cops dead

In view of the subsequent development of a chargesheet having been filed in the case, the court would not like to interfere with the FIR, a Bench led by Justice MM Sundresh told senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi, who represented Saini.

However, it clarified that the observations and findings of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in its September 8, 2020, verdict would not come in the way of the proceedings before the trial court. Rohatgi urged the top court to quash the FIR on the ground that it was lodged in 2020 due to political reasons — decades after the alleged incident. Describing Saini as a “decorated officer”, he sought to emphasise that time and again this court had granted him relief and even protected him from coercive action in the case.

However, the Bench said as the chargesheet had already been filed, it could not quash the FIR at this stage.

Multani, a junior engineer with the Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Corporation, was allegedly picked up by the police in December 1991 after a terror attack on Saini that left three policemen dead. Saini was injured in the attack.

Saini’s troubles started in May 2020 when he was booked at a police station in Mohali along with six others for the alleged kidnapping of Multani in 1991. The murder charge was added in August after two of the accused policemen spilled the beans.

The Supreme Court had on December 3, 2020, granted him anticipatory bail in the fresh case lodged in the 1991 disappearance and murder of Multani after setting aside an order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court declining him pre-arrest bail in the case, saying a long delay in lodging of the FIR can certainly be a valid consideration for grant of anticipatory bail.

Saini is also facing trial in a special CBI court in Delhi along with three others for the alleged abduction and disappearance of automobile businessman Vinod Kumar, his brother-in-law Ashok Kumar and their driver Mukhtiyar Singh in 1994.

Multani, son of a former IAS officer, the late Darshan Singh, was allegedly tortured to death in the custody of the Chandigarh Police in December 1991. Saini was the SSP of Chandigarh at that time.

Multani was allegedly picked and interrogated as a suspect in the terror attack on Saini. He was booked along with Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar, a convict in a Delhi bomb blast case, for the attack on Saini. However, after a few days, the Chandigarh Police claimed that Multani escaped from the custody of the Qadian (Gurdaspur) police.

The family alleged that Multani’s arrest and elimination were stagemanaged. On a complaint of Palwinder Singh Multani, Jalandhar-based brother of the victim, the Punjab Police, in May 2020, booked Saini and six other police officers for the alleged abduction, torture and elimination of Multani.

Later, former Inspector Jagir Singh and ASI Kuldep Singh, Saini’s co-accused, became approvers. Multani’s body was never found.