SET BACK TO BADAL IN US COURT
              JUDGE DENIES MOTION TO STOP SFJ’S CAMPAIGN
During March 20th status conference, Judge Adelman denied Badal’s motion to stop “Sikhs For Justice” (SFJ)’s campaign to raise questions regarding credibility of Badal’s witnesses and allowed Rights group to continue deposing witnesses till March 22. CM Badal is facing a human rights violations case on the charges of commanding the police force which is responsible for extra judicial killings and continuous human rights violations against the Sikh community in Punjab. On March 13, Badal’s attorneys filed a motion for protective order to stop rights group from publicly speaking about Badal’s witnesses and to stop deposition of additional witnesses.
On Friday the March 22nd, Darshan Singh Dhaliwal who hosted CM Badal during his August 2012 visit to Wisconsin will be deposed regarding his knowledge and involvement in producing witnesses in CM Badal’s favor.
Kalra an ex-Director of World Sikh Council who claims to have been served instead of Badal, during his deposition, named Dhaliwal as the person who approached him to give an affidavit regarding August 9 service of summons at Oak Creek High School. Kalra also identified DIG Counter Intelligence Ananya Gautam as the person with whom he spent three hours in a hotel room immediately prior to testifying in the court on February 21.
Kalra also claimed that he had no knowledge about the lawsuit against CM Badal until February 2013. Challenging verocity of Kalra’s claim, SFJ submitted to the US court, an affidavit of Ms. Sukhdev Kaur Ghuman, ex President of Palatine Gurudwara, Illinois verifying Kalra’s participation in December 2012 meeting of SAD (Amritsar) in which Badal’s lawsuit and service of summons was discussed at length. Another Affidavit of Convener of the meeting Boota Singh states that Kalra not only attended the SAD meeting in December but also addressed the gathering and praised the efforts to bring a known human rights violator, Badal, to the books.
SFJ also submitted the pictures of the SAD (Amritsar) meeting in which Kalra is sitting next to plaintiff Jeet Singh Alloarakh when he was addressing the gathering.
In pursuit of justice, stated attorney Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, legal advisor to SFJ, every individual who has information and is connected to service of summons on Badal will be deposed to unearth the truth. Today the US Court has once again upheld the sanctity of freedom of speech by denying CM Badal’s motion which was an attempt to muzzle victim’s voice, added Pannun.
Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) and SAD (Amritsar) filed a human rights violations case against Badal on charges of commanding the police force which is responsible for extra judicial killings and continuous human rights violations against the Sikh community in Punjab. Parkash Badal has been head of the Government in the Indian State of Punjab for more than twelve years from 1997 till 2002 and from 2007 till present and there have been several hundred cases of extrajudicial killings, police tortures and human rights violations during this time.
Issued By:
Gurpatwant S Pannun,
Legal Advisor,
Sikhs For Justice
T 718-938-7801
E: gurpatwant.pannun@sikhsforjustice.org
GURPATWANT.PANNUN@GMAIL.COM