PATIALA: The court of additional district and sessions judge suspended the two-year jail term awarded to Punjabi pop singer Daler Mehndi in a 2003 human trafficking case. Mehndi’s defence counsel had moved an appeal against the conviction.
The suspension order stated that the singer will not be jailed until this particular appeal is decided. The court also summoned all records pertaining to the case and scheduled May 18 as the next date of hearing.
On March 16, the court of Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMIC) had sentenced Mehndi to two-year imprisonment after he was found guilty under sections 420 (cheating) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy). In 2003, the Patiala police had booked Daler Mehndi and his brother Shamsher Mehndi — who died last year — and two others on the basis of a complaint filed by Bakshish Singh, a resident of Balbera village.
After the police registered his complaint, it received 35 more; all complaints alleged that the Mehndi brothers had promised to send them overseas illegally in return for money. Bakshish claimed that Mehndi took INR 12 lakh to send him to Canada.
The police claimed that the Mehndi brothers had taken two performance groups to the US in 1998 and 1999 during which they had “dropped off” 10 group members illegally.
The Patiala Police raided the offices of Daler Mehndi at Connaught Place in New Delhi and seized documents. Mehndi subsequently alleged he was tortured by the police.
Mehndi is one of the most popular singers in Bollywood, especially in the genre of Punjabi bhangra.