The Shiromani Akali Dal and the Punjabi Ekta Party on Friday slammed the Congress government in Punjab for granting pardon to four police officers convicted and serving sentences for abducting and killing a Sikh youth in 1993 to secure out of turn promotions.
Calling the move a mockery of the judicial system, Punjabi Ekta Party president Sukhpal Singh Khaira said the order of pardon issued by Punjab Governor V.P. Singh Badnore should be reversed immediately.
“The Governor has ordered their release from jail on the recommendation of the State government, which defeats the purpose of holding long trials of policemen in courts of law,” he said.
‘Stand by the family’
Mr. Khaira said three of the four policemen pardoned in the case were from Uttar Pradesh and one from Punjab. He said his party stands by the family of the victim, Harjit Singh, a resident of Saharan Majra village in Ludhiana.
“We will move a public interest litigation in the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the pardon. The government kept the whole exercise a secret and even released the convicted policemen quietly after four-and-a-half years of sentence,” he added.
Mr. Khaira said Harjit was kidnapped by Harinder Singh, an Assistant Sub-Inspector of the Punjab police, on October 6, 1993, from his village and killed by the policemen from U.P. in an encounter on October 12, 1993.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court had ordered a CBI probe into the matter in 1996, and a special CBI court had convicted the four policemen on December 1, 2014, and awarded them life imprisonment.
Will meet Shah
Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal said his party will take up the fight of the victim’s family on behalf of the Sikh community and ensure that justice is served.
He said a high-level delegation of the party will approach Union Home Minister Amit Shah soon and request him to overturn the pardon granted to the cops.
