Punjabi singer Daler Mehndi has been granted bail in the human trafficking case of 2003 by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday. The singer was taken into judicial custody and lodged at the Patiala jail after a court hearing on July 14, sentencing him to two years in jail. He was pronounced guilty of illegally sending people abroad under the garb of members of his troupe.
Confirming the news of his bail, Daler’s lawyer Arshdeep Singh Cheema told Hindustan Times, “His sentence has been suspended, which means that he will be out on bail, pending proceedings before the high court.”
The singer was taken into custody in July after the court of Additional Sessions Judge HS Grewal dismissed his bail plea. “It is pertinent to mention that Daler Mehndi was punished for two years on 16.03.18 by the JMIC Patiala. Now he is being sent to Patiala jail. The Patiala police have already taken him into its custody,” the order read. Daler was convicted along with his brother Shamsher Singh in March 2018 and was later released on bail.
Police had registered a case against Mehndi, his brother — who died in October 2017 — and two others, after it was alleged that the accused took money from people to the tune of Rs 1 crore on the pretext of taking them abroad.
Complainant, Bakhshish Singh, alleged that the deal never matured and the accused failed to return the money. The case was registered in 2003 in Patiala. Daler was subsequently arrested but released on bail after a few days.
Police had earlier moved two petitions before the court saying that Mehndi was not required in the case as he had nothing to do with the immigration fraud. After the probe, the police stated that Daler and other performers had got into a well-organised racket to illegally take youth out of Punjab to western nations by making them part of musical troupes. The youngsters were charged up to Rs 2 million in each case.
But after police started the proceedings that Mehndi had nothing to do with the immigration fraud case, the complainant moved the court again objecting to the singer being discharged. He had said that both the brothers had duped him. Daler was arrested in 2003, which sent shockwaves in the country.
