HC stays ex-DGP Saini’s arrest in corruption case

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana high court on Thursday stayed the arrest of former Punjab director general of police (DGP) Sumedh Singh Saini in a September 2020 FIR registered in an alleged corruption case.

The high court bench of justice Avneesh Jhingan sought response from the Punjab government by May 5 and directed Saini to join the probe within a week. On April 26, a trial court dismissed Saini’s anticipatory bail plea. The FIR of September 17, 2020, was registered by the vigilance bureau (VB) under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, forgery and criminal conspiracy against public works department (PWD) executive engineer Nimratdeep Singh and his father Surinderjit Singh Jaspal among others, who had sold a house in Sector 20-D, Chandigarh, to Saini. On August 2, 2021, Saini was also named as an accused in the case. In the FIR, the VB had claimed that property was obtained with proceeds of crime. Saini had argued in the HC that he was initially not named in the FIR and another case for similar offences also stand registered in 2021. The petitioner cannot be prosecuted twice for same set of allegations, he had argued.

It was also said that it was a case of “political vendetta” as the then government had announced openly to put him behind bars. All transactions for the purchase of the house are through banks and duly accounted for, Sani said, adding that due to “political vendetta and mala fide”, he was implicated. He also undertook that he would join investigation as and when called by the police.