NEW DELHI: The former Punjab Haryana High Court Judge, A.S.Bains’ detention case took a new tum when his wife, Rachpal Kaur, moved the Supreme Court alleging mala fide intention against the chief minister, Beant Singh whose testimony was disbelieved by the judge about a decade ago.

The vacation judge, Justice M.N.Venkatachaliah, after hearing the petitioner’s counsel, Hardev Singh and Madhu Malchandani issued notices to Beant Singh and the state administration officers concerned with the detention of Bains.

Bains has filed an appeal against the high court order which dismissed the petition seeking the release of her husband. She also filed a writ petition seeking the release of Bains and compensation for handcuffing him. It alleges that the former judge had been kept in illegal custody for over 24 hours. It seeks a direction to the police administration to return cash and jewelry which sleuths had seized during a raid on Bains’ Chandigarh residence on April 4.

While the police maintain that Bains was arrested on April 4, the judge and his relatives besides the former advocate general of Punjab, G.S.Grewal, deposed before the session’s judge of Ropar that he was arrested on April 3 and later handcuffed in violation of various judgments by the Supreme Court.

Hardev Singh submitted to the court the session’s judge’s report. The session’s judge had conducted an inquiry into the allegations of illegal arrest and handcuffing. The inquiry had been ordered by the high court, which however dismissed the petition on the ground that the cases under the Terrorists and Disruptive Activities Prevention Act were beyond its jurisdiction. The inquiry report confirms handcuffing of Bains.

The allegation of mala fide against the chief minister was made on the basis of a judgment delivered by Justice C.S. Tiwana and Justice Bains on Nov.18, 1981. The high court while upholding the conviction of a double murder accused had disbelieved the testimony of the then state minister, Beant Singh.

The former state minister, Beant Singh had deposed in defence of the double murder accused. He had testified that the accused were present at his house on the day of the incident.

The other ground raised by Bains to substantiate mala fide against Beant Singh, emanates from the chief minister’s reported utterance to a delegation of lawyers on May 15. The petition said that Beant Singh had told the lawyers to “keep themselves off” Bains’ detention case as he had to “settle personal scores with him.”

The petition said Beant Singh had also made a statement in the Punjab legislative assembly that the government would not release Bains because the former judge, as the chairman of the state level committee appointed by the Barnala government, had ordered release of 3000 “terrorists.”

The Ajit Singh Bains committee had comprised of G.S.Grewal the joint director prosecution, M.R.Midha and for former Speaker of Punjab, Chand Sabharwal. The petition said the committee, on finding wrongful detention of detainees, had passed strictures on the police. The role of the committee was “irksome” to the senior police officers and the higher ups,

Under the circumstances, the petitioner counsel pleaded that Bains be released henceforth and justice done to him. He has been facing charges under Sections 3 and 4 of TADA, Sections 124 A, 153 A and 505 (1) (b) of IPC and Section 13 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The FIR registered at Anandpur Sahib police station on March 31 does not mention the name of Bains, It, however, refers to a meeting of the leaders of six Sikh organizations at the upper story of Gurdwara Kesgarh Sahib.

The meeting presided over by Harmind Singh Gill, general secretary of Sikh Students Federation (Manjit), thanked the people of Punjab for boycotting the elections, the FIR said. They expressed the hope to achieve the goal of Khalistan if the Sikh organization remained united it added.

Accusing the “Hindu government of killing Sikh youths in false encounters and killings “thousands of Sikh men in the 1984 riots the meeting resolved that the Hindus, who participated in the elections, would be “expelled” from the state. They would be killed.

The meeting also stressed that the Sikh organization had no faith in the Central government or the Constitution of India the brief FIR said,

Those who attended the meeting were Harminder Singh, Sukhbir Singh Singh Khalsa Diliof SSF (MehtaChawla group), Jathedar Kuldip Singh Wadala general sectary Akali Dal (Badal) Tarlok Singh acting president Akali Dal (Mann) Jasbir Singh Ghuma working president of AISSF (manjit) and MohkamSingh other Babbar Akali Dal the FIR added.

Article extracted from this publication >> June 19, 1992