Punjabi singer Daler Mehndi jailed for 2 years in a human trafficking case

Daler Mehndi, a Punjabi pop artist who was imprisoned in 2018 for a 2003 case of human trafficking, has his two-year prison term upheld by the Patiala district court on Thursday.

The singer's appeal against conviction was denied by additional district and session judge HS Grewal, who also confirmed the lower court's ruling that Mehndi had violated Indian Penal Code Sections 420 (cheating) and 120B (conspiracy) while performing. He had received a two-year prison sentence from the trial court, along with an INR 2,000 fine.

He was released on bond because he had filed an appeal against the trial court's ruling. Mehndi was arrested after the additional district sessions judge rejected his appeal. He would probably be sent to Patiala Prison, which also jails politician-turned-cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu.

In response to a complaint made by Bakshish Singh of the village of Balbera, the Patiala police had detained Daler, his brother Shamsher Mehndi, who passed away in 2017, as well as two other people. According to Bakshish, Mehndi spent INR12 Lakhs to send him to Canada. Later, 35 additional complaints involving allegations of fraud against the brothers surfaced.

While Bulbul Mehta, a worker at the Mehndi factory, was acquitted due to a lack of evidence, Shamsher and Dhian Singh died during the course of the trial. The complainants claimed that the Mehandi brothers had attempted to help them enter the US illegally by taking "passage money" from them, but they were unsuccessful.

Additionally, it was claimed that the Mehndi brothers had travelled with two troupes in 1998 and 1999, during which 10 individuals were "dropped off" in the US without authorization.

Although Daler was declared innocent in two discharge petitions filed by Patiala police in 2006, the court upheld the singer's prosecution because there was substantial proof against him on the judicial file and scope for further investigation.