A local court on Saturday granted bail to former Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal in a defamation case.
Earlier, during the last hearing in December, the court had cancelled Badal’s bail bond and issued a non-bailable warrant after he failed to appear before it.
The case came up for hearing before the court of the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate here on Saturday.
The defamation case was filed in January 2017 by Rajinder Pal Singh, spokesperson of the religious organisation Akhand Kirtani Jatha, against Badal over an allegedly controversial statement in which he had described the organisation as the political face of a terrorist group.
Advocate of the complainant said that Badal’s statement was baseless and defamatory, and was made with the intention of defaming Rajinder Pal Singh and tarnishing the image of his organisation. It was alleged that the statement was issued after Rajinder Pal Singh held a meeting with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at his residence.
The court had earlier ordered the police to investigate the matter, following which statements of both Badal and Rajinder Pal were recorded. While Rajinder Pal stood by his complainant, Badal denied the allegations.
Later, the Chandigarh Police submitted a factual inquiry report in the court on November 28, 2019. Based on the report, Rajinder Pal filed the criminal defamation case against Badal.
Advocates Damanbir Singh Sobti and Arshdeep Singh Kler, appearing for Badal, argued that his non-appearance before the court was neither wilful nor intentional and the case was false and frivolous, filed at the behest of the complainant due to some political reasons.
After hearing arguments from both sides, the court granted bail to Badal.