Bargari sacrilege: Court dismisses plaint against Badals

THE COURT, AFTER HEARING TWO WITNESSES, FOUND THAT THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE TO CORROBORATE THE ALLEGATIONS

LUDHIANA : The court of judicial magistrate first class (JMIC) Sumit Subharwal has dismissed a criminal complaint filed against former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and former deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal in Bargari sacrilege case of October 2015.

The complainant, Jagdeep Singh Gill, chairman, Samajik Jagriti Front, Jagraon, had stated in the petition filed on October 5, 2018, that the Badals, who were in power in the state from 2007-2017, had failed to maintain law and order.

After the sacrilege on October 10, 2015, the Sikh community had started a peaceful dharna in Behbal Kalan village, when they were fired upon.

“The police came to the spot. They were armed and directed the gathering to vacate the area. After the protesters refused, the police lathi-charged them and fired, as a result of which two persons were killed,” stated the petition.

It added, “The motive of the Badals in ordering firing was to get political benefits and gains.”

Gill had pleaded that the Badals may be summoned under sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 295 (insulting religion) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.

The court, after hearing two witnesses, found that there was no substantial evidence to corroborate the allegations of the petitioner, who was not present on the spot.