'How Can Discharge Order Be Stayed?': Supreme Court Expresses Surprise At HC Order

The Supreme Court on Monday (November 11) issued notice on a plea by Sikh leader Sudershan Singh Wazir challenging the Delhi High Court's recent order that stayed his discharge order in a murder case and directed him to surrender.

A bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Augustine George Masih stayed the direction to surrender and also directed that the trial proceedings against Wazir would not proceed until further notice.

During the hearing, Justice Oka questioned the High Court's decision to stay the discharge order issued by the trial court. “How order of discharge can be stayed? Staying an order of discharge is completely unheard of,” observed Justice Oka.

Senior Advocate Sanjay Jain, representing the Delhi government, informed the Court that the High Court had allowed Wazir to apply for bail. Justice Oka responded critically, remarking, “On one hand, you will say you surrender; on the other hand, say alright, you come here to apply for bail. What is this going on?”

"If the Court starts staying the order of discharge, then the trial will proceed. How can this happen? How can discharge order be stayed at all? We will have to set down the law," Justice Oka said.

The Supreme Court issued notice returnable on January 28, 2025, with Wazir's case to be listed among the first five cases on that date.

Sudershan Singh Wazir, the former President of the Jammu and Kashmir State Gurdwara Parbandhak Board, faces allegations related to the murder of former National Conference MLC Trilochan Singh Wazir in September 2021. On November 4, the Delhi High Court single bench of Justice Anish Dayal allowed an application by the prosecution to stay the discharge order that had been passed by the trial court in favor of Wazir and several co-accused.

The trial court, on October 26, 2023, had discharged Sudershan Singh Wazir, along with co-accused Balbir Singh, Harpreet Singh Khalsa, and Rajinder Chaudhary, while retaining murder charges against another accused, Harmeet Singh. Subsequently, the prosecution appealed this decision, leading the High Court to stay the trial court's discharge order. At that time, three of the discharged accused were already in judicial custody, while Wazir had been released on October 20, 2022. Following the High Court's stay of the discharge order, the prosecution moved an application seeking Wazir's surrender, arguing that his release was a direct consequence of the trial court's now-stayed order.

The High Court, while granting the prosecution's application, held that Wazir's release following the discharge order had become invalid due to the stay on the discharge. It asserted that Wazir could not continue to benefit from an order that was under appellate scrutiny. The High Court reasoned that without securing Wazir's custody, the stay on the trial court's discharge order would be rendered ineffective “ineffective, of no consequence, and bereft of any teeth.”

The High Court added that Wazir was not barred from seeking bail from the trial court, which would be considered independently on its merits.

Case no. – Diary No. 51306-2024

Case Title – Sudershan Singh Wazir v. State (NCT of Delhi) and Ors.