HC dismisses plea to waive sentence of two men convicted for ‘waging war against India’

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has rejected the plea of ​​two convicts to suspend their sentence in a ‘waging war against India’, in which three people were convicted by the court of SBS Nagar, Nawanshahar, Punjab. Petitioners Arvinder Singh and Surjit Singh approached HC on May 24, 2016 in connection with an FIR under Section 121 in connection with an FIR, waging war, or waging war, or waging war. India) and 121-A (conspiracy to commit an offense punishable by section 121 of the IPC) and sections 10 and 13 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. The applicant-appellants were charged with inciting people to resort to violence. The purpose of waging war against India with the aim of establishing an independent state / nation called ‘Khalistan’ through liberating Sikhs from India or Indian rule. Counsel for the petitioner stated that the appellants were immediately recovered in the case, literature, books and pamphlets and an appellant was implicated on the basis of material shared on Facebook by a person named Arvinder Singh. It was further submitted that the entire case of the prosecution revolved around the disclosure statements of the appellants, who are needlessly in evidence as they were lodged in police custody. The passports recovered from the appellants were genuine and the provision of any offense was not attracted by the possession of the posters / flakes and other material allegedly recovered by the appellants, the counsel argued. Counsel also stated that neither any weapon nor any explosive substance of any kind was found in the possession of any of the appellants and hence, it would be a “far-reaching” argument that the appellants waged war or even waged Tried to commit a war against the Indian government or conspired to commit such a crime. “Nothing concrete has been done,” he said, who was a member of ‘Babbar Khalsa International’ banned by the appellants or committed to reduce, offend, advocate, advise or incite the commission of any illegal activity. is. No material recovered from the possession of the appellants was banned, ”the lawyer argued. Thus, it was argued that the appellants, who had already gone through an actual sentence of about 4 years and 8 months, could extend the concession of suspension of sentence. In response, the state’s lawyer said: “Arvinder Singh, being an active member of the banned militant group Babbar Khalsa International, was inciting young Sikh followers to join the said organization. All the appellants waged war against India and indulged in anti-national activities. Arvinder Singh personally instigated and inspired applicant Surjit Singh alias Lucky on Facebook to encourage armed struggle. The recovery of printed material from the possession of the appellants was sufficient to incite and encourage the younger generation to engage in anti-national activities. They were promoting the cause of Khalistan and in the given circumstances, no concession of suspension of punishment should be granted to them. “The bench of Justice Jaswant Singh and Sant Prakash said after hearing the arguments,” It is not a fit case where the concession of suspension of the remaining sentence of the applicants-appellants can be extended. It is established on record that destroying material, propagating the cause of Khalistan was recovered from the possession of the applicants-appellants. A reasonable conclusion can be drawn that the primary object of possessing and distributing such material was the establishment of Khalistan on Baisakhi… ”The bench thus dismissed the petition, stating,“ The appellants along with them intended to use the same The above material was kept. To incite and incite people to resort to violence with a view to waging war against the Government of India, so that an independent state / nation can be created in the name of Khalistan. The crimes allegedly committed are very serious in nature and under the given circumstances, we find no merit in the instantaneous application. “.