CBI wants Bibi convicted of murder, seeks early hearing
Wednesday, 23/01/2013
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130123/punjab.htm#4
Chandigarh : Nearly nine months after Bibi Jagir Kaur was convicted for abduction and forcible abortion of her daughter Harpreet Kaur, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court for early hearing of its appeal.
The CBI has sought directions for convicting and sentencing Bibi Jagir Kaur for murder.The premier investigating agency has claimed that the Trial Judge had failed to appreciate that Harpreet’s death was homicidal and had “committed a grave error in law in not giving a finding that the death was under mysterious circumstances”.
In its application, filed through CBI’s special public prosecutor RK Handa, the investigating agency has asserted that Bibi's acquittal of the murder charge and for destroying evidence was not justified.The matter pertains to the year 2000 and must be brought to a logical end at the earliest.
The CBI has said in its appeal that Harpreet was abducted on March 18, 2000, from Chandigarh after being sedated. She was confined at Bibi's trusted friend Dalwinder Kaur Dhesi’s residence Jasdil Mansion in Phagwara. Her pregnancy was terminated against her will on March 20, 2000, at Kartarpur by Dhesi, Bibi’s political confidant Paramjeet Singh and approver Dr Balwinder Singh Sohal.
The CBI has claimed that the Trial Judge had committed a grave error in disbelieving Dr Sohal’s testimony as far as the conspiracy to murder was concerned while believing his witness regarding conspiracy to kidnap, wrongfully confining Harpreet and terminating the pregnancy.
The Trial Court had also ignored the evidence that phenobarbitone tablets were procured from Dr Sohal and the powder was mixed in food and served to kill Harpreet in Dr Sohal’s presence. The Judge had again failed to appreciate why Harpreet was at Jasdil Mansion, where she died and to take into account the body’s hurried disposal “by cremating Harpreet within hours of her death that was indicative of concealment of the murder."
