More than two decades after he was accused of illegally sending abroad the people chasing dollar dreams disguising them as members of his “troupe”, popular singer Daler Mehndi’s appeal against his two-year jail sentence was dismissed by Patiala local court on Thursday.
The Court of Additional District and Sessions Judge HS Grewal upheld Mehndi’s two-year jail sentence in a 2003 human trafficking case, following which he was taken into custody. He is likely to be sent to Patiala jail, where cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu and former Minister Bikram Majithia is also lodged.
The lower court in 2018 had held Mehndi guilty under Section 420 (cheating) and 120B (conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code. The trial court had sentenced him to two-years imprisonment and also imposed a fine of Rs 2,000. As of now, he was on bail as he had appealed against the trial court’s decision.
In the complaints almost 20 years back, Daler Mehndi and his brother Shamsher Singh were accused of collecting “passage money” to take people abroad, mainly to the US and Canada, via the “troupe” route. Though they took some people along with them, there were others who alleged that they took money but did not keep their promise.
In September 2003, a case was registered at Patiala by one Bakshish Singh. He alleged that the brother-duo took two troupes to the US in 1998 and 1999, during the course of which 10 people were taken to the US as group members and were “dropped off” illegally.
“They took Rs 13 lakh from me. Neither did they send me abroad, nor did they return my money,” he said.
A month after the FIR, both Mehndi and Shamsher were arrested, and got bail within days.
They were charged under Indian Penal Code's (IPC) sections for human trafficking and conspiracy, and under the Indian Passport Act. After that FIR, no less than 35 more complaints were received too.
Three years after, the Police moved two petitions before the Court saying that Daler was not required in the case as he had nothing to do with the immigration fraud, popularly referred to as ‘kabootarbaazi’ — meaning flying pigeons referring to numerous youth in Punjab trying to use illegal means to settle abroad.
However, the Court refused to discharge the Punjabi pop and Bollywood singer stating that there was “sufficient evidence against him on the judicial file and scope for further investigation”.
While Shamsher died during the trial in 2017, an employee of Mehndi’s firm Bulbul Mehta was acquitted for lack of evidence.
In 2018, the Court of Judicial Magistrate First Class had held both the brothers guilty and sentenced them to two years in jail, following which they were granted bail and later they filed an appeal in the sessions court.
On Thursday, the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge has dismissed Mehndi’s appeal against his sentence. His petition for bail was also rejected, and so was a request to be released on probation — that is, a commitment of good behaviour instead of jail time.
Now, Mehndi has the option to approach the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
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Turn of Events
September 2003: Patiala police register FIR against Mehndi, his brother Shamsher and two others
December 19, 2003: Mehndi arrested in Delhi. Police charged him with indulging in human trafficking since 1997
February 2005: Singer requested for re-investigation
January 2006: Police filed two discharge petitions terming Mehndi to be innocent
October 2006: Court ruled that the singer be prosecuted as there was “sufficient evidence” against him
October 2017: Co-accused and Mehndis brother Shamsher dies
March 2018: Court awarded two-year imprisonment and Rs 2000 fine
July 2022: Court dismissed Mehndi’s appeal against conviction