Chandigarh, April 4: The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday asked the Punjab government to respond by April 30 to a petition filed by Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president and former deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, seeking a probe by a central agency into the December 4 attack on him at the Golden Temple.
A bench led by Justice Tribhuvan Dahiya issued the notice after Badal moved the court demanding the investigation be handed over to either the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or National Investigation Agency (NIA). He alleged that the Punjab Police inquiry was “biased, unfair, and marred by ulterior motives.”
The 62-year-old SAD leader was targeted by former militant Narain Singh Chaura while serving as a sewadar at the main entrance of the shrine in Amritsar. The act was part of Badal’s public atonement for “mistakes” during the party’s 2007–17 rule. Chaura, who opened fire at Badal, was overpowered by plainclothes officers at the scene.
“The case was registered after considerable delay and based on a statement from someone who wasn’t even an eyewitness,” Badal’s plea stated. “My own statement was never recorded. This shows a deliberate misdirection of the investigation.”
Chaura, who was arrested and charged with attempted murder, secured bail from an Amritsar court on March 25. According to the plea, the bail was a consequence of “investigative lapses” and a “diluted” case.
The petition also referred to CCTV footage and eyewitness accounts that, it claimed, indicate a “larger conspiracy involving other individuals.” These aspects, Badal argued, remain uninvestigated. “The probe appears to be politically influenced,” the plea added.
Separately, in a related political development, a special investigation team (SIT) formed by Punjab Police to probe a drug trafficking case against SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia—Badal’s brother-in-law—moved a Mohali court on Wednesday seeking search warrants. The case is scheduled for hearing on Saturday.
