The Supreme Court, issued a notice regarding a petition filed by Sikh leader Sudershan Singh Wazir.

Wazir is challenging the Delhi High Court's recent decision to stay his discharge order in a murder case and has been directed to surrender.

A division bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Augustine George Masih directed that trial proceedings against Wazir will remain paused until further notice.

During the hearing, Justice Oka questioned the High Court's decision to stay the discharge order issued by the trial court.

“How order of discharge can be stayed? Staying an order of discharge is completely unheard of,” observed Justice Oka.

During the hearing, Senior Advocate Sanjay Jain, representing the Delhi government, informed the Court that the High Court grants permission to Wazir to apply for bail.

In response, the Court expressed criticism, questioning, “On one hand, you ask him to surrender; on the other, you say he can apply for bail. What exactly is going on here?”

"If the Court starts staying the order of discharge, then the trial will proceed. How can this happen? How can discharge order be stayed at all? We will have to set down the law," Justice Oka said.

The Supreme Court has issued a notice, returnable on January 28, 2025, scheduling Wazir’s case among the first five to be heard on that date.

Sudershan Singh Wazir, former President of the Jammu and Kashmir State Gurdwara Parbandhak Board, is facing allegations in connection with the murder of former National Conference MLC Trilochan Singh Wazir, which occurred in September 2021. On November 4, Justice Anish Dayal of the Delhi High Court allowed the prosecution’s application to stay the discharge order previously issued by the trial court in favor of Wazir and several co-accused.

On October 26, 2023, the trial court discharged Sudershan Singh Wazir and co-accused Balbir Singh, Harpreet Singh Khalsa, and Rajinder Chaudhary, while retaining murder charges against another accused, Harmeet Singh. The prosecution later appealed this decision, prompting the High Court to stay the trial court's discharge order.

At that time, three of the discharged accused remained in judicial custody, while Wazir had been released on October 20, 2022. After the High Court stayed the discharge order, the prosecution filed an application requesting Wazir's surrender, arguing that his release had resulted directly from the trial court's now-stayed order.

Granting the prosecution’s application, the High Court ruled that Wazir's release following the discharge order was invalid due to the stay on that order. It held that Wazir could not continue to benefit from an order now under appellate review. The court reasoned that without securing Wazir’s custody, the stay on the trial court's discharge order would be rendered “ineffective, of no consequence, and bereft of any teeth.”

The High Court added that Wazir was not barred from seeking bail from the trial court, which would be considered independently on its merits.