Jalandhar: Potato trader’s brothers sentenced to 3 years of rigorous imprisonment

Jalandhar: The court of JMIC Ram Pal has sentenced two brothers to three years rigorous imprisonment for preparing a fake affidavit as part of a criminal conspiracy to take over the house of their third brother at 10, GTB Enclave here. Potato trader Gurmeet Singh had lodged a complaint against his elder brother Preetpal Singh and younger brother Navdeep Singh and the wives of both the brothers. An FIR was lodged against the four in June 2011 under sections 420, 465, 467, 468, 471, 120-B, 454 and 380 of the IPC. After about 14 years, the court has convicted the brothers, while acquitting their wives. The court has sentenced Preetpal Singh and Navdeep Singh to two years each under sections 120-B, 420 and 471 of the IPC and three years each under sections 467 and 468 of the IPC. The court has also asked them to pay a fine of Rs 7,000 each.

Gurmeet Singh had alleged that he had purchased a plot in 1992 through a sale deed registered in the office of Sub Registrar Jalandhar. Thereafter, he constructed H No. 10 in GTB Enclave. He had applied for electricity connection, which was installed in 1997. While applying for installation of electricity connection, a copy of the sale deed was enclosed with the application. The complainant said that he came to know that his elder brother Pritpal Singh, who was having a family dispute with him over business partnership, had fraudulently filed an application in PSEB, Model Town, Jalandhar, requesting to change the electricity connection in the name of Pritpal Singh by submitting a false and fabricated affidavit on behalf of the complainant, which was signed in Gurmukhi script and attested by a notary.

He said that in 2008 when he came to his house in Jalandhar from Bengaluru, he came to know that Preetpal Singh had tried to get an electricity meter installed in his name. He lodged a police complaint but due to lack of time he had to return to Bengaluru with his family. However, earlier Preetpal and other family members had assured him that Preetpal or any other person would not make any change in the complainant’s house or make any changes in the ownership records. In July 2010 when Gurmeet came to live in his house in Jalandhar from Bengaluru with his family, he found that the lock of the main gate was changed. He alleged that his brother Preetpal and his family members were occupying the house. When he checked the house from inside, he found that the main cupboard in one of the bedrooms was lying open from which some valuables were missing. He said that when he asked his brothers Preetpal, Navdeep and their wives about this, they forcibly pushed him and his family members. Following this incident, an FIR was lodged and a case was filed.