Supreme Court Comes to the Rescue of Former Punjab CM and His Son in Cheating and Forgery Case

On Friday, the Supreme Court of India quashed a cheating and forgery case against former Chief Minister of Punjab Parkash Singh Badal and his son and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Singh Badal in the case of Sukhbir Singh Badal vs Balwant Khera and Ors. A bench of Justices MR Shah and CT Ravikumar set aside an order of the Punjab & Haryana High Court that had rejected the plea by the Badals.

The apex court noted that the Badals had been summoned to face the trial but none of the ingredients of the offences were made out against them. The Court determined that the High Court ought to have quashed proceedings that would have been an abuse of the process of law. Hence, it quashed and set it aside. It also clarified that it had not expressed anything on the Constitution of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and hence the pending proceedings before the Election Commission of India (ECI) should not be influenced by the top court’s verdict. The Court stated, “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 verdict came on a plea filed by the Badals challenging an August 2021 decision of the Punjab and Haryana High Court rejecting the plea to quash a cheating and forgery case against them. The case against them was filed by one Balwant Singh Khera accusing the SAD of submitting separate constitutions with the Gurdwara Election Commission and the ECI.

The Supreme Court had in November stayed proceedings in the matter before a Punjab court, and issued notice. Parkash Singh Badal had passed away on April 25.

The Supreme Court’s decision to quash the case against the Badals was a significant ruling that will have far-reaching implications. The Court’s decision to set aside the proceedings before the Magistrate and not express anything on the Constitution of the party, will ensure that the pending proceedings before the ECI are not influenced.