High Court Judge Recuses From Hearing Bail Plea Of Former Punjab Top Cop

A Punjab and Haryana high court judge today recused from hearing the anticipatory bail plea of former director general of police (DGP) Sumedh Singh Saini, who has been charged for abduction and disappearance of a junior engineer in 1991. The development comes a day after police claimed Mr Saini has gone underground to evade arrest in the case.

He had approached the high court after his anticipatory bail plea was dismissed by the Mohali court on Tuesday.

On September 2, another judge, justice Amol Rattan Singh had recused from hearing the second petition of Mr Saini seeking either quashing or transfer of the Balwant Singh Multani disappearance case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The plea is now listed for hearing for September 7.

Mr Saini, according to Punjab police, has gone underground after he left his Chandigarh residence on Thursday.

Mr Saini, who is a "Z+" category protectee of the state government, left without Punjab Police security personnel and security vehicles, including the jammer vehicle, on his own, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Multani disappearance case has said.

The development came amid a letter from the former cop's wife alleging withdrawal of his security cover. The police has denied the charges levelled by Mr Saini's wife in a letter to Director General of Police Dinkar Gupta and said that there has been no change whatsoever in the security detail and the paraphernalia.

In 1991, Balwant Singh Multani, a junior engineer with Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Corporation, was picked by police after the terrorist attack on Saini, who was the then senior superintendent of police in Chandigarh.

Police had later claimed that Multani had escaped from the custody. He had been missing since.

A case was filed against Saini and six others in May based on the complaint of Balwant Multani's brother Palwinder Singh Multani. Two former Chandigarh police personnel, who are also co-accused, have turned approvers in the case.

With inputs from PTI