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Synopsis

As many as three separate review petitions have been filed before the Supreme Court against the April 28, 2023 judgement which quashed a cheating and forgery case against veteran Punjab leader, late Parkash Singh Badal and his son Sukhbir Singh Badal for alleged dual constitutions of their party Shiromani Akali Dal.

The pleas contended that the errors in the SC judgement have caused a very important criminal trial against the powerful politicians to get nipped in the bud or aborted at its nascent stage, despite abundant and compelling material and evidence pointing at their role in the offences alleged to have been committed.

Parkash Singh Badal, a five-time former chief minister of Punjab and Akali Dal patriarch, had breathed his last at a private hospital in Mohali on 25 April this year. He was 95. 

In a clean chit to the veteran leader and his son, a bench of Justices M R Shah C T Ravikumar had held that no ingredients of offences of cheating, forgery and others were made out in the matter.

The judgement had come on pleas filed by the Badals and Dr Daljit Singh Cheema in the complaint filed by a Hoshiarpur resident Balwant Singh Khera. 

In the review petitions filed through advocate Indira Unninayar, the complainant the judgement contained several serious errors apparent on the face of the record, which have resulted in a grave miscarriage of justice in this matter.

“The errors include erroneous recording and appreciation of the allegations in the complaint, application of the incorrect ingredients of various provisions of the law, and erroneous recording that no false document was produced, although several such documents are on record, apart from a witness statement categorically admitting to the deception and fraud alleged," the pleas stated.

Despite a plethora of crucial evidence against the accused, the apex court in its judgement disregarded all of it on patently erroneous grounds – by way of errors of fact and of law, the petitions contended. 

"The issues are far larger and include the filing a false Constitution and undertaking before the Election Commission and of using two different Constitutions before two different authorities – one a false and forged one, to meet the eligibility conditions for the party’s registration as a political party, and the other, the real one, to meet the eligibility conditions to contest the Sikh Gurdwara elections. Further, the inquiry reveals a series of continuing frauds over the years all the way through 1989, 2003, 2009 to 2017,” the pleas contended.

The petitioner also stated this court has repeatedly held that it is not for the High Court to conduct a mini-trial as it is only required to see if a prima facie case is made out based on the material collected during the inquiry / investigation, yet this court has sat like a trial court and further, despite a plethora of crucial evidence against the accused, has disregarded all of it on patently erroneous grounds – by way of errors of fact and of law. 

It was alleged by the complainant that the party has claimed to be a secular party and given a declaration to abide by the principles of secularism in its constitution filed before ECI, while it contested elections for a religious body, Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, thereby being a religious party.

In its judgement, the court, however, had said, "To continue the criminal proceedings against the appellants – accused arising out of the complaint and to face the trial by the accused as per the summoning order is nothing but an abuse of process of law and court and this is a fit case to quash the entire criminal proceedings including the summoning order." 

The court, however, had clarified it not expressed anything on the Constitution of Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) and the present order would not affect the pending proceedings before the High Court of Delhi, against the order passed by the Election Commission. 

Case Title: Balwant Singh Khera Vs Parkash Singh Badal & Ors.