Plea filed in SC against quashing of cheating, forgery case against ex Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal, son

Badal, a five-time former chief minister of Punjab and Akali Dal patriarch, had died at a private hospital in Mohali in April.

A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking review of its April 28, 2023 judgement which quashed a cheating and forgery case against veteran Punjab leader, the late Parkash Singh Badal, and his son Sukhbir Singh Badal for alleged dual constitutions of their party Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).

Three separate petitions pointed towards "errors" in the SC judgement, alleging that said errors caused a very important criminal trial against the powerful politicians to get nipped in the bud or aborted at its nascent stage, despite abundant and compelling material and evidence.

Badal, a five-time former chief minister of Punjab and Akali Dal patriarch, had died at a private hospital in Mohali on April 25, this year.

Acting on petitions filed by the Badals and Dr Daljit Singh Cheema, a bench of Justices M R Shah (since retired) and C T Ravikumar had held that no ingredients of offences of cheating, forgery and others were made out in the matter.

Also Read | SC refuses to interfere with bail granted to Punjab ex-MLA in rape case

A complaint was filed against them by a Hoshiarpur resident Balwant Singh Khera.

In the review petitions filed through advocate Indira Unninayar, the complainant contended the judgement contained several serious errors apparent on the face of the record, which have resulted in a grave miscarriage of justice in this matter.

“The errors include erroneous recording and appreciation of the allegations in the complaint, application of the incorrect ingredients of various provisions of the law, and erroneous recording that no false document was produced, although several such documents are on record, apart from a witness statement categorically admitting to the deception and fraud alleged," the pleas stated.

Despite a plethora of crucial evidence against the accused, the apex court in its judgement disregarded all of it on patently erroneous grounds – by way of errors of fact and of law, the petitions contended.

It was alleged by the complainant that the party has claimed to be secular and given a declaration to abide by the principles of secularism in its Constitution filed before ECI, while it contested elections for a religious body, Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, thereby being a religious party.