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Journalism of Courage
Special CBI Judge Rakesh Gupta sentenced Gurbachan Singh, a retired deputy superintendent of police, to life imprisonment under Indian Penal Code Section 302 (murder) with a fine of Rs 2 lakh, seven years rigorous imprisonment (RI) under Section 364 (kidnapping) with Rs 70,000 fine, two years under Section 343 (wrongful confinement) with Rs 25,000 and two years of RI under Section 218 (public servant framing incorrect record or writing with intent to save person from punishment).
On Monday, the court found the three former police officers guilty and reserved the announcement of their punishment. The case involved the fake encounter and murder of two men named Jagdeep Singh Makhan and Gurnam Singh Pali in 1992. CBI’s Public Prosecutor Anmol Narang led the prosecution.
The case was investigated by the CBI following the orders issued by the Supreme Court on November 15, 1995. After registering the case, the CBI, on November 21, 1996, recorded the statement of Pritam Singh, a resident of Tarn Taran. Pritam reported the abduction of his son Jagdeep Singh Makhan on November 18, 1992, by a police party led by Gurbachan Singh, who was then the station house officer (SHO) of Tarn Taran.
On February 27, 1997, the CBI registered a case against Gurbachan Singh and others under sections 364, 302, and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the IPC. After completion of the investigation, it presented a chargesheet against Gurbachan, Resham Singh, Hans Raj and Arjun Singh, all police officers of Tarn Taran (city) police station.
The chargesheet said Makhan was abducted by a police party headed by Gurbachan after killing the former’s mother-in-law Sawinder Kaur. Similarly, Gurnam Singh Pali, was abducted by Gurbachan and other police officers on November 21, 1992, from his home. Both were subsequently killed on November 30, 1992, by a police party headed by Gurbachan, according to the chargesheet. Their bodies were cremated as “unknown and unclaimed”, the chargesheet claimed.
During the trial of the fake encounter case, police officer Arjun Singh passed away in December 2021, and the proceedings against him were terminated. As many as 46 witnesses were cited by the CBI in this case, and 24 of them provided testimony during the trial.
As many as 18 witnesses, including the complainant Pritam Singh, passed away during the trial. Also, the sanctioning authority, Rajesh Chhabra, also expired during the proceedings. As a result, Captain Narinder Singh, the then special secretary (home) in the Department of Home Affairs and Justice, was examined as a replacement for prosecution witness number 24.
The accused examined 13 defence witnesses and submitted extensive documents in their defence.
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