SC quashes cheating case against late Parkash Singh Badal, son Sukhbir Badal

A bench of Justices MR Shah and CT Ravikumar while quashing the case related to the issue of two constitutions of the SAD said that the case was nothing but abuse of the process of law.

Chandigarh: The Supreme Court on Friday quashed a cheating case against late former Punjab Chief Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal leader Parkash Singh Badal and his son and SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal related to the issue of two constitutions of the SAD. A bench of Justices MR Shah and CT Ravikumar while quashing the case said that the case was nothing but abuse of law.

Justice Shah said, "The order of the lower court issuing summons against the appellants is nothing but an abuse of the process of law." The Badals and SAD leader Daljit Cheema had recently approached the apex court against the summons by the Hoshiarpur court in the case. The bench of the apex court had on Apr. 11 reserved its judgment on a batch of petitions filed by Badal father-son duo and senior Akali leader Daljit Singh Cheema.

The Supreme Court also dismissed the summons issued by the Hoshiarpur court in connection with the allegations of fraud on the father-son duo regarding the dual constitution of the Shiromani Akali Dal. The court however said that it will not comment on the consitution of the SAD and that today's verdict will not affect the matter which is before the Election Commission.

The case dates back to 2009 when social worker Balwant Singh Kheda had filed a complaint of cheating in the Hoshiarpur court against the Badals. In the complaint, it was alleged that the Shiromani Akali Dal has two constitutions – one registered with the Gurdwara Election Commission for the management of Gurdwaras, while the other has been registered with the Election Commission as a political party.

The complainant had argued that this amounted to cheating. Earlier, the Badal family and Cheema had approached the Punjab Haryana High Court after the trial court issued summons. The High Court however upheld the order of the trial court and the summons. Upset with the High Court ruling, the Badal family and Cheema approached the Supreme Court in Aug. 2021 to quash the case.