Punjab & Haryana High Court Imposes 6 Months Imprisonment on Dismissed Punjab Police DSP

The Punjab and Haryana High Court today sentenced dismissed Punjab Police DSP Balwinder Singh Sekhon and his aide, one Pardeep Sharma to 6 months imprisonment in the contempt case for circulating ‘malicious’, ‘libelous’, and ‘derogatory’ videos on social media pertaining to judicial proceedings of the Judges of the HC. The bench of Justice G. S. Sandhawalia and Justice Harpreet Kaur Jeewan also imposed a fine of Rs. 2000 on them. Earlier on Feb 15, the Court had issued a criminal contempt notice to Sekhon for willingly taking on the High Court in order to achieve their personal ends. The Court noted that Sekhon, who had filed a writ petition in 2021 challenging the order of his dismissal from service, had been circulating videos pertaining to the judicial proceedings which are being conducted by other judges. After the proceedings ended on February 15, they (Sekhon and an alleged legal expert, Pardeep) aired themselves in open public at the entrance of the Court and launched a vicious tirade on the proceedings which had been conducted. Consequently, the Court took up the suo moto case today pertaining to their conduct on Feb 15. The Court, in its February 20 order, noted that Pardeep, who put in an appearance in an effort to defend Sekhon before the Court on Feb 15, made a public remark disparagingly about one of the Judges (part of the bench) and the fact that his father was also a Chief Justice and he also did not have the guts to open the reports. Apart from several other allegations, it was further commented that the Judges have been leashed by a certain set of people. Taking into account the facts of the matter, the Court made an order for their arrest and directed that they be sent to judicial custody and thereafter be produced before the Court to answer the charge of contempt.