Comrade Balwinder Singh Sandhu Murder Case : Supreme Court Directs Expedition Of Trial

The Supreme Court on Monday (June 29) directed that the trial in the case concerning the killing of comrade Balwinder Singh Sandhu must be expedited.

A bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and Aravind Kumar was hearing the bail plea filed by two accused persons Navpreet Singh@Nav and Harbinder Singh@Pinder@Dhillon.

Senior Advocate Dr S. Muralidhar, for the petitioners, told the court that the role of the two accused persons was limited in this case. Additional Solicitor General, Aishwarya Bhati, representing the National Investigation Agency (NIA), however, contended that they played a significant role in what she termed as a larger conspiracy behind the killing of Sandhu.

Sandhu was awarded Shaurya Chakra for fighting militancy in Punjab in the 1990s. He was shot dead by two unidentified accused persons at the residence-cum-school run by him in Tarn Taran district, Punjab in October 2020 months, after his security was withdrawn by the Punjab government. The Punjab police had alleged that the banned Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) hatched a conspiracy. The case was subsequently taken over by the NIA on January 26, 2021.

The accused persons have been booked under Sections 302 (murder), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 201 (destruction of evidence), 212 (harbouring offender) under the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and under relevant sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

Brief arguments in court

Muralidhar submitted that it has not been alleged that the two accused, Navpreet and Harbinder, were linked to the membership of the KLF. Bhati told the court that 11 accused persons are facing trial, whereas 4 are absconding.

Bhati told the court that the role of one of the accused was that he was a student of Sandhu. On the day of the incident, he facilitated the escape of the two accused persons who had shot Sandhu dead. She further pointed out that the role of the other accused person was that he was present at the crime scene. He had also facilitated their escape.

Muralidhar said that the two accused persons remain incarcerated as undertrial as out of 223 witnesses only 7 have been examined so far. Based on the arguments of both sides, the court directed that the trial must be fast-tracked. 

The next hearing is in October. 

Case details: SLP(Crl) No. 6019/2024 II-B & SLP(Crl) No. 6020/2024 II-B