The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused bail to sacked Uttarakhand minorities panel chief Sukhdev Singh Namdhari, who is accused of murder charges in plotting the death of liquor baron Ponty Chadha and his brother in 2012.
Finding the charges against Namdhari serious, the Vacation Bench of Justices PC Ghose and Amitava Roy said, “We are not interested in entertaining the petition. The charges against you are grave.”
Namdhari had sought bail citing various ailments like Hepatitis C, blood pressure and heart problems, apart from depression and developing suicidal tendencies. The Court, however, took note of the fact that the petitioner had earlier secured interim bail on similar grounds from trial court when his bail petition was pending before the Delhi High Court.
Referring to the trial court’s bail order of November 27 last year, the apex court wondered how the trial court could grant bail when the HC was seized of the bail plea. His bail was later cancelled at the instance of one of the victim’s wife, following which he was taken back into custody.
Ponty and his brother Hardeep, who were allegedly involved in a property dispute, were killed in a shootout at a Chhattarpur farmhouse here on November 17, 2012. Subsequently, Namdhari was arrested on November 23, 2012. later, the remaining accused were apprehended.
The trial court in July last year had framed charges under IPC Section 302 (murder) read with Section 149 (unlawful assembly) against 21 accused including Namdhari and his Personal Security Officer (PSO) Sachin Tyagi.