Mohali court resumes trial proceedings against Badals

The trial proceedings were stalled since May last year,when Amarinder had moved the Supreme Court seeking the transfer of the trial from Mohali to somewhere out of Punjab.

Though the Supreme Court Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan had not stayed the trial proceedings,the Mohali court was restrained from recording statements of the accused under Section 313 of the CrPC till the final disposal of the petition.

On May 14,the apex court finally dismissed Amarinder’s petition while ruling that the petitioner “has not made out a case of having reasonable apprehension of not availing justice in Punjab”.

In a 44-page judgment,the Supreme Court Bench,headed by the Chief Justice,ordered,“The case cannot be transferred on a mere allegation that there is apprehension that justice will not be done and the petitioner’s contention cannot be construed as reasonable.”

The Bench held that transferring the case “at this stage” would be against the interests of the prosecution,the accused and the witnesses.

Amarinder had moved the Supreme Court after the prosecution admitted before a Mohali court in April last year that no incriminating evidence had come up against the Badals.

The prosecution pleaded that the accused be dispensed from charges as the complainant in the case,Balwant Singh,who was prosecution witness number 56,had himself “disowned” the complaint,while almost half of total 59 prosecution witnesses had turned hostile.

Public prosecutor Pradeep Mehta,today,tendered a certified copy of the Supreme Court judgment declining transfer of the case trial from Mohali to outside Punjab. No one from the Badal family,however,appeared in court.

While Badal senior and his wife Surinder Kaur were already exempted from personal appearance,Sukhbir and close relative,Narottam Singh Dhillon,moved applications seeking exemption from the same. Following the appearance of the co-accused in the case,Additional and Special Judge S K Garg fixed June 1 as the next date for further proceedings in the case.

Badal and his family members face trial under the Prevention of Corruption Act in a disproportionate assets case.