IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Sr. No.107 CRM-M-66240-2025 Date of Decision:09.03.2026 SARABJIT KAUR ...Petitioner Versus STATE OF PUNJAB ....Respondent CORAM: HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE MANDEEP PANNU Present:- Mr. Nippun Sharma, Advocate for the petitioner.

Mr. Sahil Chowdhary, AAG, Punjab.

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MANDEEP PANNU, J. (Oral)

1. This is the first criminal miscellaneous petition under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 seeking the concession of pre-arrest bail to the petitioner in FIR No. 0032 dated 08.04.2021 registered under Sections 419, 420, 465, 467, 471 read with Section 120-B of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 at Police Station Navi Baradari, District Jalandhar, Punjab.

2. Briefly stated, the present FIR has been registered on the complaint of Balbir Kaur wife of Gurdial Singh, an NRI, alleging that she is the owner of about 180 marlas of land situated at Krishanpura near Ajit Nagar, Bajria. It is alleged that the complainant came to know through her acquaintance Sukhwant Singh that one Simranjit Singh had paid earnest money through cheques for purchase of the said property, though the complainant had neither agreed to sell the said land nor had she received any such payment. Upon inquiry, it surfaced that during the time when the complainant was residing in America, Narinder Singh had arranged a lady who impersonated the complainant Balbir Kaur and on the basis of a forged general power of attorney dated 01.06.2020 got the land sold in favour of Sunita Duggal for a sum of ₹33 lakhs. It is further alleged that the said power of attorney was attested with the involvement of other accused persons and thereafter the property was fraudulently transferred. According to the prosecution, the present petitioner Sarabjit Kaur, along with co- accused including Narinder Singh @ Nindi and others, was part of the conspiracy and facilitated the execution of the forged documents and illegal sale of the property. On the basis of these allegations, the present FIR has been registered against the accused persons under Sections 419, 420, 465, 467, 471 and 120-B of the IPC.

3. Learned counsel for the petitioner has contended that the petitioner is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the present case. It is argued that the petitioner has not been named in the FIR and no specific overt act or role has been attributed to her. Neither the alleged power of attorney nor the sale deed bears the signatures of the petitioner in any capacity. It is further submitted that as per the prosecution version, the main allegations are against Narinder Singh, husband of the petitioner, who allegedly arranged a lady to impersonate the complainant Balbir Kaur for execution of the forged documents, and the said impersonating lady Gurjeet Kaur has already been arrested by the police. Learned counsel submits that merely because the petitioner is the wife of the co-accused Narinder Singh, she is being unnecessarily harassed by the investigating agency. It is further argued that the petitioner is a household woman with clean antecedents and is not involved in any other criminal case. The petitioner is ready and willing to join the investigation and has also expressed her readiness to give her specimen signatures and thumb impressions for comparison by the handwriting expert and FSL. It is contended that no recovery is to be effected from the petitioner and her custodial interrogation is not required. On these grounds, prayer has been made for grant of anticipatory bail to the petitioner.

4. Learned State counsel has opposed the present petition and submitted that the allegations against the petitioner are serious in nature and pertain to a well-planned conspiracy involving impersonation, forgery and fraudulent transfer of immovable property. It is argued that the investigation conducted so far has revealed that the present petitioner Sarabjit Kaur was actively involved in the commission of the offence. As per the prosecution case,