The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a plea by Bibi Jagir Kaur, Akali Dal leader and former SGPC chief, to suspend her conviction for the murder of her daughter Harpreet Kaur in 2000 so that she can contest the Assembly elections in Punjab. A Bench, comprising Justice A.K. Goel and Justice U.U. Lalit, rejected the submission that she was convicted only of the charge of conspiracy and not of murder. Her counsel, Shyam Divan, said the Punjab and Haryana High Court had already stayed the sentence. But that court on Monday dismissed a plea to stay her conviction. Ms. Kaur is ineligible to contest under the Representation of the People Act, 1951, because she has been sentenced for more than two years. She has been out on bail since November 2012, but her appeal against the special CBI court’s sentence is pending in the High Court.
