A unique fight in Punjab’s Atam Nagar: Accused MLA vs rape case advocate

On Friday, amidst scathing observations against Bains, the Supreme Court stayed his arrest for a week as well as all the cross-FIRs filed against the woman, while directing the Punjab government to file a status report. Rapping the MLA’s counsel, the court said: “He (Bains) is a public representative, MLA for two times… How many cases did he file against that lady, and now he wants anticipatory bail and he wants the lady to go to jail.” Bains has called the case “political vendetta”.

Bains, whose elder brother Balwinder Singh (63) is also an MLA and seeking re-election from Ludhiana South, is known in Punjab as much for his firebrand politics as his bitter rivalry with the Badals, and the long list of cases against him (Bains declared 15 in his poll affidavit). In 2016, in perhaps the only such case, the two brothers were thrown out physically from the Punjab Assembly, during a discussion on river waters.

Police chargesheet in the rape case against Bains, which also names his two other brothers, businessmen Karamjit Singh and Paramjit Singh, says “the mobile tower locations of the accused and the victim were found matching with the areas and timings provided by the victim on those particular dates”. The FIR was registered on July 10, 2021, on charges of rape, assault, criminal force, sexual harassment, and conspiracy.

More than six months later, police have not arrested either Bains or other accused named in the FIR. Presenting the chargesheet in a local court in November last year, the Ludhiana police said that “arresting MLA Simarjeet Bains can create a law and order problem as his supporters might get agitated”. It also argued that being a public representative, “he could not flee, and neither could the other accused who were his party members”. It urged the court to instead issue summons to him, and subsequently non-bailable warrants have been issued against him multiple times.

The basis for Bains’s confidence is the “pro-people” image he has built over the years, largely with populist gestures such as thrashing a government official in public in 2009, and ‘raiding’ government offices to catch “corrupt” employees on camera. While there are cases against him over this, apart from accusations of “blackmail” tactics, Bains says people love him for being undaunted.

“Other parties are afraid of us because they know that nothing can stop the Bains brothers from fighting for the rights of the common people. We cannot tolerate corruption, and if someone takes a bribe, we will expose them, by hook or crook. We are not professional but passionate politicians who want to serve people,” says Bains, adding that the cases against him were due to the fact that he had raised voice over issues such as farm laws to cable and land mafia and organized agitations.

Balwinder, the first to enter politics, started with SAD (Amritsar) and won as an Independent councillor in 1991. Bains was then elected as an Independent councillor in 2002 and joined SAD in 2004. During his stint as Youth Akali Dal leader, he first came to be known for his frequent showdowns with rivals.

Simarjeet Singh Bains

Ahead of the 2012 Punjab Assembly polls, the two Bains brothers left SAD after the party agreed to give just one ticket between them. Both contested as Independents and won, further establishing their clout in their constituencies Atam Nagar and Ludhiana South.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Bains contested from Ludhiana as Independent but finished fourth. Ahead of the 2017 Punjab polls, he floated his own ‘Lok Insaaf Party’, which entered an alliance with AAP. Of the five seats it contested, the Lok Insaaf Party won the two where the brothers stood.

Bains walked out of the alliance soon after, over Arvind Kejriwal’s apology to Akali leader Bikram Majithia.

In 2019, Bains contested from the Ludhiana Lok Sabha, and finished second. “The love of people for the Bains brothers is clear from the fact that even amidst the Modi wave, I polled more votes than the SAD-BJP candidate,” says Bains.

The Lok Insaaf Party is contesting 42 seats this time.

Advocate Dhanda, one-time MLA from Ludhiana West, says Bains has been allowed a free run. Hoping for a favourable order at the February 11 hearing in a local court over proclaimed offender proceedings against Bains, Dhanda said: “Look at his confidence that, despite multiple non-bailable warrants against him, he hasn’t applied for bail. But justice can be delayed, never denied.”

Bains says that the very fact that the advocate is in the fray shows that the rape allegation is politically motivated.

Of the other contenders in Atam Nagar, the Congress’s Kamaljit Singh Karwal used to be an aide of Bains from his Youth Akali Dal days.

Bains says: “There were at least 25 FIRs against me because nothing can stop the Bains brothers from speaking up for people. There has not been a single conviction so far, proving that the cases are false. It is a badge of honor to be booked for standing for the poor… The LIP is a party born out of struggles, we are revolutionaries.”