1991 Multani murder case: SC to not quash fresh FIR against ex-Punjab DGP

The Supreme Court Tuesday refused to interfere with a fresh FIR lodged against former Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini in the 1991 disappearance and murder of junior engineer Balwant Singh Multani. A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and Pankaj Mithal said that in view of the subsequent development of a charge sheet being filed in the case, it would not like to interfere with the FIR. The top court, however, said that observations and findings recorded in the Punjab and Haryana High Court verdict dated September 8, 2020, will not come in the way of proceedings before the trial court. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Saini, sought quashing of the FIR, saying it was lodged in 2020 after decades of the alleged incident due to political reasons. He said that time and again this court had granted relief to Saini, who is a decorated officer, and even protected him from any coercive action in the case. Justice Sundresh said that since the charge sheet has been filed in the case, it