New Delhi, Jan 8 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Friday asked why Punjab Police Inspector General Sumedh Singh Saini had not raised any objections when sanction was taken to try him for the illegal detention and disappearance of two businessmen 12 years ago.
During the hearing in the high court of Saini’s appeal against the 2007 trial court order to frame charges against him for criminal conspiracy, abduction and wrongful confinement, Additional Solicitor General A.S.Chandhiok, appearing for the CBI, asked why Saini only objected when the trial court was to frame the charges against him.

Arguing before Justice M.C.Garg, Chandhiok submitted that proper sanction was taken after the apex court order of 2001 to prosecute Saini and three other police officials accused in wrongful detention and disappearance of the two businessmen.

According to prosecution, Saini, who was the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Ludhiana at the time of the incident, had a personal grudge against some relatives. He allegedly sought the help of Vinod Kumar and his family members, who were financing Saini Motors, run by these relatives.

When Vinod Kumar refused to do so, Saini allegedly got him and his brother-in-law implicated in a false case of financial misappropriation in 1994, had them picked up along with their driver and illegally detained, after which they disappeared.

Vinod Kumar’s family had alleged that the two businessmen were murdered. The case was later transferred to a special court in Delhi after it was apprehended that Saini might try to influence the course of the trial.