PANAJI
A murder accused from Ludhiana (Punjab), who had been avoiding imprisonment for nearly eight months on the pretext of medical conditions, has been directed by the High Court of Bombay at Goa to surrender before the Colvale Central Jail authorities by Thursday. Sukhwinder Singh -- currently on interim medical bail -- is charged with allegedly killing his wife Alka Saini by slitting her throat with a knife, during their honeymoon trip to Goa in May 2019.
Singh, who was remanded to judicial custody after completing his police remand, has been avoiding imprisonment since June 12, 2023, which is when he was granted interim bail on “medical emergency.”
The order came with a direction to surrender after eight weeks. Singh thereafter filed for an extension on multiple occasions from August to December 2023.
The last extension was granted on December 13, 2023 and he was directed to surrender on January 4, 2024. The Court records show that he moved an application before the Vacation Bench of the High Court on December 27, 2023 which was rejected. When the matter came up on January 3, 2024, the Court gave yet another extension to surrender by January 10, 2024. The accused failed to heed this order.
“Admittedly, the purpose for which interim bail was granted i.e. the alleged surgery in a hospital at Jalandhar is still not completed. The doctor at Goa Medical College, Goa has clearly advised that there is no urgency to perform such surgery and the same could be performed at Goa when the need arises. However, the applicant is seeking an extension on one or the other grounds,” Public Prosecutor S G Bhobe, appearing for the State, argued during the hearing before Justice Bharat Deshpande.
The Court acknowledged that Singh’s bail application has been pending since April 2023 while granting him the liberty to apply afresh for a grant of bail once he surrenders before the jail authorities on or before January 25, 2024.
Singh and his wife, aged 28 years from Himachal Pradesh were staying at a hotel in Arpora when he allegedly killed her following a heated argument. As per Anjuna police records, he fled from Goa while his wife's body was found by the hotel's housekeeping staff. He was arrested from his home village and brought to Goa for investigation. The man has been in jail since then until the interim bail order.
