The Supreme Court has dismissed the Punjab government’s appeal challenging the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to quash the FIR filed in 2021 against Sukhbir Singh Badal, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief. The High Court had directed the cancellation of the FIR, labeling it as a “bogus case.” The charges against Badal included violations under the Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897, disobedience of orders by a public servant, creating obstacles, issuing criminal threats, and engaging in unlawful activities. The allegations centered around his alleged interference in the mining operations of a private company in the city of Amritsar.
Justices Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan, expressing astonishment, questioned why the complainant in the case did not approach the apex court directly and why only the state government filed an appeal against the High Court’s order to annul the FIR. They highlighted the significant absence of the complainant’s involvement in knocking on the doors of the top court. The bench raised queries regarding the merits of initiating a criminal case against Badal, emphasizing the private mining company’s complaint as the basis for launching the case.
In August 2023, when the High Court had ruled in favor of quashing the FIR, the bench directed questions to the Punjab government about its decision to appeal. The justices probed whether there was a substantial case against Badal and sought clarification on the elements of the FIR. The case, initiated based on a complaint from a private mining company, led the bench to question the presence of relevant elements in the filed FIR.
In this complex legal scenario, the Supreme Court’s decision to dismiss the appeal against the quashing of the FIR adds another layer of scrutiny to the entire case. The judiciary’s intervention in assessing the validity of the charges against Sukhbir Singh Badal brings forth questions about the procedural aspects and the grounds on which the case was built.
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