The Punjab & Haryana High Court has approved anticipatory bail for Sukhbir Singh Badal, a Shiromani Akali Dal leader and former Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab, along with others, in connection with the Kotkapura police firing case that occurred in 2015.

In this case, it is alleged that Sukhbir Singh Badal and other individuals, including senior police officers, were implicated in a conspiracy that resulted in the police firing on protesters in Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan in the year 2015.

Justice Anoop Chitkara expressed the view that although the scale of the alleged crime in this case was unquestionably substantial, the evidence against Sukhbir Singh Badal and the other accused seemed to rely primarily on presumptions of their involvement in the conspiracy.

Justice Anoop Chitkara noted that there appeared to be a lack of prima facie evidence regarding the motive behind committing the alleged crime. 

The court's order emphasized that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) did not assert that any of the accused were leading a campaign to intentionally offend the religious sentiments of the Sikh community or others who hold Sikhism in high regard.

The Court additionally expressed its opinion that it could not make assumptions about the existence of a conspiracy, emphasizing that it was the responsibility of the prosecution to establish such a conspiracy during the course of the trial.

The Court went on to grant pre-arrest bail to Sukhbir Singh Badal and five others, including the former Director General of Police (DGP) Sumed Singh Saini and the former Ludhiana Commissioner of Police Paramraj Singh Umrangal.

The case dates to  2015 when the police opened fire on individuals who were participating in protests against incidents of sacrilege that had occurred in Punjab's Faridkot district.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) concluded that the indiscriminate firing on protestors at Kotkapura Chowk was the outcome of a conspiracy involving the then Chief Minister, the late Parkash Singh Badal, Sukhbir Singh Badal, who was serving as the Home Minister at the time, and senior police officers.

The Court observed that even though the SIT had concluded that there was a prima facie case against the accused, they did not opt for the arrest of the accused individuals. Instead, the SIT filed a police report directly.

The Court also pointed out that the SIT had already concluded its investigation and, as a result, did not deem it necessary to interrogate the accused individuals who were seeking bail.

Consequently, the Court granted anticipatory bail to the accused individuals, subject to the imposition of various terms and conditions.