IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Inderjit Gir and others ....Petitioners Versus State of Punjab ....Respondent Date of Decision: May 01, 2026 Date of Uploading: May 01, 2026 CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE SUMEET GOEL Present: Mr. P.S. Hundal, Senior Advocate with Ms. Arshpreet Kaur, Advocate for the petitioner(s).

Mr. Adhiraj Singh, AAG, Punjab.

Mr. K.S. Nagra, Advocate for the complainant.

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SUMEET GOEL, J. (Oral)

Present petition has been filed under Section 482 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (hereinafter to be referred as ‘the BNSS’) for grant of pre-arrest/anticipatory bail to the petitioners, in case bearing FIR No.14 dated 14.01.2025, registered under Sections 103(2) (deleted later on) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (subsequently added Sections 103(1), 61(2), 3(5) BNS) and Sections 302, 120-B, 34 IPC, at Police Station Sohana, District SAS Nagar, Mohali.

2. The gravamen of the FIR in question reflects that the FIR in question was registered on the basis of a complaint filed by the complainant—Rampal Puri, who in his complaint made to the police has alleged that on 13.01.2025, while he along with his brother Baljit Puri was present at his house celebrating Lohri, the accused persons were playing loud music nearby and openly challenging others. When they had raised objection, all the accused, including the present petitioners, came in front of his house and started quarrelling. The complainant has further alleged that petitioner Inderjit Gir and Sachin Gir caught hold of the deceased Baljit Puri, while the co-accused gave fist blows on his chest. Upon raising alarm, the accused fled from the spot. The injured was taken to GMCH, Sector 32, Chandigarh, where he was declared dead by the doctor. The motive behind the occurrence is stated to be a prior dispute regarding payment of commission in a land transaction. Upon these set of allegations, the present FIR came to be registered against the accused persons.

3. Learned senior counsel for the petitioners has iterated that a bare perusal of the FIR itself shows that allegations leveled against the petitioners are concocted, improbable and devoid of any merit. Learned senior counsel for the petitioners submits that the petitioners have been falsely implicated into the FIR in question. He further contends that as per the postmortem report, no external injury was found on the body of the deceased. He further submits that the petitioners were not armed with any weapon and no recovery is to be effected from them. He further contends that co-accused Narinder Puri has already been granted the concession of regular bail by this Court vide order dated 19.03.2026 (Annexure P-4) and the case of the petitioners stands on a similar footing. He further submits that the petitioners No.2 & 3 have clean antecedents and are not involved in any other case. The petitioner No.1 is the ex-Sarpanch of the village and has clean record, except a case registered under the Punjab Mines and Minerals Act.

3.1. Learned senior counsel asserts that the police have not conducted a fair and impartial investigation and the inquiry conducted so far is not only incomplete, but also tainted with bias. Learned senior counsel has asserted that nothing is to be recovered from the petitioners. Moreover, the custodial interrogation should not be used as a punitive measure and is justified only when absolutely necessary for the recovery of material evidence. Furthermore, the petitioners are ready to join the investigation and, hence, no useful purpose would be served by sending them behind the bars.

On the aforesaid submissions, the grant of anticipatory bail is entreated for.

4. Per contra, learned State counsel (assisted by learned counsel for the complainant) while raising submissions in tandem with the short reply dated 28.04.2026 has opposed the petition in hand by arguing that the petitioners are specifically named in the FIR and have been attributed distinct and active role of infli