Punjab polls: Bibi Jagir Kaur cannot contest polls as SC rejects her plea

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected Akali Dal leader and former SGPC chief Bibi Jagir Kaur's plea for suspension of her conviction in the 2000 murder case of her daughter Harpreet Kaur to enable her contest the upcoming assembly elections in Punjab.

A bench, comprising Justices A K Goel and U U Lalit, refused to entertain the plea of Kaur by brushing aside the submission that she was only convicted on charge of conspiracy and not for murder.

Senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for Kaur, said the leader had been sentenced for five years by a trial court on the charge of conspiracy but not for murder. Suspension of the sentence will enable her to contest the polls, he contended.

He said the Punjab and Haryana High Court had already stayed the sentence and if the apex court stayed the conviction, then she can contest the polls.

While the sentence was stayed earlier, the high court bench had yesterday dismissed a similar plea by Kaur seeking stay on her conviction in the case.

Kaur's conviction with sentencing of more than two years period makes her ineligible to contest the election as per the Representation of People Act, 1951.

She is out on bail since November 2012 but her appeal against the special CBI court's sentence is still pending in the High Court.

On January 8, 2010, the apex court had directed the Sessions Court to expeditiously decide the case and complete it in six months.

In 2012, she was convicted for offences -? forcible abortion, wrongful confinement, abduction and criminal conspiracy.

The former Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) chief's daughter Harpreet had allegedly married a person against the wishes of her mother. Harpreet was found dead under mysterious circumstances.