Court dismisses complaint against former minister Ashu

The much-publicised criminal complaint case filed by former DSP Balwinder Singh Sekhon against former Congress minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu has been dismissed by Chief Judicial Magistrate Radhika Puri.

In its complaint the former DSP had alleged that Ashu intimidated him, caused obstruction in performing the official duty by interfering with an official inquiry into illegal construction of Grand Manor Homes project in city.

In dismissing the case, the court held, “No sufficient grounds are made out to proceed further with the present complaint, and the complaint being devoid of any merit is hereby dismissed.”

The complainant had alleged that social Activist Kuldeep Singh Khaira had exposed the illegal construction of the flats, prompting an inquiry by the Local Government Department, which was entrusted to him in July 2018.

According to Sekhon, Ashu had called him to his residence in July 2018 and warned him to focus solely on his police work and refrain from getting involved in other matters. However, Sekhon failed to produce corroborating evidence proving that he had visited Ashu’s house during that time, leaving this allegation unproven, observed the court.

The complainant further alleged that RK Builders and its associates conspired to sabotage the inquiry and issued various threats. However, Sekhon did not provide the names of individuals from whom he allegedly received these threats, nor did he submit any evidence to substantiate his claims, further observed the court.

Sekhon also claimed that on July 24, 2018, Ashu had called him from mobile number issuing open threats over the phone. Though two witnesses, Navdeep Singh and Amit Grewal, testified that they saw Sekhon receiving a tense phone call, their testimony could not establish that the call had come from Ashu. Crucially, Sekhon did not provide any call records or other documentary evidence to verify this.

The court noted that the absence of call details and other key documents weakened the case significantly. “The vital documents have been withheld by the complainant, and adverse inference stands drawn against him. So, the entire conversation between the complainant and accused reproduced by the complainant in his complaint has remained unproved,” the court stated.

Additionally, several other witnesses, including prominent figures like former Congress minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, former chief secretary A Venu Prasad and Sudeep Singh Manak, were examined in connection with the inquiry into RK Builders. However, their testimonies failed to support the allegations of criminal wrongdoing against Ashu.