Punjab Government on Friday virtually made it clear that senior advocate Amar Preet Singh Deol was here to stay as the state Advocate-General by removing the sole objection against his appointment. The Government on Friday appointed senior advocate Rajwinder Singh Bains as ‘Special Public Prosecutor’ for all sacrilege-related cases.
Bains, a senior advocate of Punjab and Haryana High Court, has been appearing against Punjab’s former Director General of Police Sumedh Singh Saini in Balwant Singh Multani murder case (pending before the Supreme Court); and for Gurjeet Singh, son of the deceased in Behbal Kalan firing case.
The appointment came a day after Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi held a detailed meeting with the party’s disgruntled leader Navjot Singh Sidhu over Deol’s appointment as the state's top law officer, among other issues.
Sidhu has, in fact, resigned from as the state party president, opposing several key appointments in the state government, with Deol’s as AG being the one.
Deol’s appointment ran into controversy on the grounds of ‘conflict of interest’ as he was the counsel for former top cop Saini and suspended IG Paramraj Singh Umranangal — both accused in the Behbal Kalan police firing case.
The bar Council rules make it clear that being Saini and Umranangal’s counsel, Deol would neither be able to appear nor advise the State in their cases and related matters. Besides, a counsel may be privy to information about a client, the rules say.
His appointment was opposed as it was Deol who secured blanket bail to Saini in all the cases, just about a fortnight before his appointment, with the Punjab and Haryana High Court observing that Saini’s involvement in multiple cases could be a “political ploy in the wake of the coming state Assembly elections”.
Deol’s appointment also came as a surprise as incidents of sacrilege and subsequent police firing in Faridkot district’s Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan in 2015 are politically sensitive issues in the poll-bound state. In fact, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the High Court’s adverse order in the Kotkapura police firing incident was the boiling point against Capt Amarinder Singh.
A day before, Sidhu had shared a video clip on Twitter, in which, he said: “My soul jitters when I see those who secured blanket bails, are advocate general (sic).”
SPS’s APPOINTMENT UNDER SECTION 24 (8) OF CrPC 1973
Bains appointment as Special Public Prosecutor was made by Punjab Government under Section 24 (8) of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973, “to set the ball rolling to ensure speedy justice in unfortunate sacrilege and firing incidents”. The state Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, who also holds the Home portfolio, said that the newly-appointed Special Public Prosecutor has been mandated to appear before the trial court or courts besides the Punjab and Haryana High Court on behalf of the State Government in the cases related to FIR No 129 dated October 14, 2015, registered at Police Station Bajakhana in Faridkot district under section 307, 435, 332, 333, 353, 283, 186, 380, 188, 148, 149 of IPC and 25, 27 of Arms Act 1959 and 34 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984.
Likewise, the Special Public Prosecutor would also defend the State Government in the case with regard to FIR No 192 dated October 14, 2015, under section 409, 467, 195 of IPC, read with 120-B of IPC at Police Station Kotkapura City in Faridkot district. Pointing out further, Randhawa said that the newly-appointed prosecutor has also been directed to appear in the case against FIR No. 130 dated October 21, 2015, under section 302, 307, 34 of IPC & 25, 27 of Arms Act at PS Bajakhana in Faridkot district.
Similarly, the special public prosecutor has also been asked to appear in the case with regard to FIR No 129 dated August 7, 2018, under section 307, 326, 324, 323, 341, 201, 218, 120-B, 34 of IPC, 27 of Arms Act at Kotkapura City police station in Faridkot district, added Randhawa. A notification with regard to the orders of the Special Public Prosecutor has been issued by the Principal Secretary (Home Affairs and Justice) Anurag Verma on Friday evening, which would come into force with immediate effect.
WHAT IS SPECIAL PUBLIC PROSECUTOR
A Special Public Prosecutor generally is a lawyer appointed by the Government (State or Central) to represent the Government in a court for a particular case. The additional skills of the lawyer in the particular segment can be a motivating factor for the government to appoint a special prosecutor.