Criminal cases against former DGP Sumedh Saini: HC to take up plea on March 24

The Punjab and Haryana high court would take up a plea from former DGP Sumedh Singh Saini in which it has stayed probe in different FIRs against him on March 24.

It was on March 4 that acting on a plea from the Punjab government, the Supreme Court had asked the chief justice of Punjab and Haryana high court to either hear the pleas himself or assign it to any other bench and dispose of the same within two weeks.

The apex court had expressed shock and disapproval on an order passed by the high court bench of justice Arvind Sangwan on September 9, 2021, in which the former DGP was granted “blanket protection” even in the cases to be filed against him in the future. The SC had termed the order “unprecedented.”

The hearing was deferred as the state’s counsel told the bench of justice Avneesh Jhingan that the advocate-general has resigned and the new government is to take over and in view of the current scenario, he has not got instructions and is unable to argue the matter.

He had some time to make submissions. In view of this, the case has been adjourned for March 24.

It was on September 9 that the high court bench of justice Arvind Sangwan terming the former DGP’s case of “exceptional circumstances” had observed that “involvement of the petitioner in multiple cases can be a political ploy in the wake of the coming state legislative assembly general elections (which took place in February)” and had given him the protection. It was ordered that there will be a clear stay on his arrest in all cases pending or likely to be registered except one FIR where the matter is pending before the Supreme Court. The order was passed in a 2018 plea of the former DGP in which he was seeking blanket bail from the high court and directions that FIRs registered or likely to be registered to be transferred to the CBI as the incumbent government, then led by Amarinder Singh, was allegedly acting out of vengeance against him.