Charges Of Fraud And Cheating Against Former Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal Are Dismissed By Supreme Court
Update: 2023-04-28 16:01 IST
Two days after Parkash Singh Badal passed away, the Supreme Court dismissed accusations of fraud and cheating against the late Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and former chief minister of Punjab. Justice M.R. Shah, noted that none of the elements of the offences for which the Badals were accused and charged were present in the facts of the case.
The criminal case brought by a Hoshiarpur court in Punjab against Badal and his son, Sukhbir Singh Badal, the president of the SAD, was deemed a "abuse of process of law" and a "fit cause for quashing the entire proceedings," according to a bench led by Judge M. R. Shah.
The allegations that SAD submitted a fraudulent assurance to the Election Commission of India to get recognition are the subject of the case. On August 27, 2021, the Punjab and Haryana High Court rejected the Badals' and others' appeal of the summons order issued by Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Hoshiarpur.
Meanwhile, in 2009, social activist Balwant Singh Khera complained about the Badals and Daljit Singh Cheema, claiming that the SAD had two constitutions—one that it submitted to the Gurdwara Election Commission and another that it submitted to the Elections Commission of India (ECI) to apply for recognition as a political party. According to Mr. Khera, the SAD represented to the ECI that it had changed its constitution to include socialism and secularism, but continued to operate as a "Panthic" party and take part in elections for the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC).