The Supreme Court clarified that its ruling in the case against former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal, for cheating and forgery, does not affect the pending proceedings before the Election Commission of India (ECI) and that it has not expressed an opinion on the SAD’s constitution.
Justices MR Shah and CT Ravikumar dismissed the Badals’ case and overturned an order of the Punjab & Haryana High Court, noting that although the Badals were summoned to stand trial, none of the alleged offenses had been proven against them.
The Court determined that the High Court should have dismissed proceedings that constituted an abuse of legal procedure and quashed and discarded it.
“The HC ought to have quashed proceedings that would have been an abuse of process. We quash and set the impugned order including trial court summons. Present appeals are allowed. We have not expressed anything on Constitution of party, and should not influence pending proceedings in Delhi before ECI,” the Supreme Court said.
On April 25, Parkash Singh Badal passed away. Recently, the Supreme Court considered a petition filed by the Badals, challenging a decision by the Punjab and Haryana High Court that denied their petition to dismiss a cheating and forgery case filed by Balwant Singh Khera.
Khera accused the SAD of submitting separate constitutions to the Gurdwara Election Commission and the Election Commission of India. In 2009, Khera filed a criminal complaint with an Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate.
The SAD allegedly claimed to be a secular party but was running for a religious organization, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). The Badals and another accused, Daljit Singh Cheema, filed a petition challenging the Magistrate’s proceedings before the Supreme Court, which stayed the proceedings in November and issued notice.
The Supreme Court recently quashed the case against the Badals and clarified that its ruling does not affect the pending proceedings before the Election Commission of India and that it has not expressed an opinion on the SAD’s constitution.
