Cheating case: HC orders music producer Pinky Dhaliwal’s release, terms arrest illegal

Punjabi music producer Pushpinder Dhaliwal, arrested for cheating and exploiting Punjabi singer and actress Sunanda Sharma on Saturday, was released on Tuesday afternoon after the Punjab and Haryana high court declared his arrest illegal.

“Detenue namely Pushpinder Pal Singh Dhaliwal alias Pinky Dhaliwal, father of the petitioner, is stated to be in the custody of Mataur police station, Mohali. He is ordered to be released immediately if his custody is not required in connection with any other case,” the bench of justice HS Brar said after taking note of the facts put forth by the lawyers and observing that reasons of ordering release would be recorded later in the detailed order.

Known as Pinky Dhaliwal, the accused, who runs companies like Mad4Music and Amar Audio, was arrested on Saturday by Mataur police.

The 33-year-old singer, with a significant fanbase, had accused Dhaliwal of unlawful, exploitative and defamatory conduct that caused her significant financial loss, mental trauma and reputational damage. “Despite my earnings exceeding ₹250 crore during this period, the accused unlawfully took possession of all my income and usurped my rightful dues. Not a single payment was made to me directly. This blatant financial exploitation has severely impacted my financial stability and well-being,” Sharma said.

A battery of 14 lawyers, including three senior advocates RS Rai, Vinod Ghai and Amit Jhanji, were representing Dhaliwal.

Was illegally picked up before FIR was registered: Lawyers

As per the lawyers’ argument before the court, he was picked up from his Sector 71 residence at 7:30 pm for which an entry was made in police record at 7:38 pm on March 8. When Dhaliwal’s lawyer met the policemen at Mataur police station at 8:20 pm, he was told that there is no FIR or complaint.

Dhaliwal’s legal team reached high court and filed a habeas corpus petition and procured an order at 11 pm whereby a warrant officer was appointed by the HC. As per records, the FIR came to be filed at 11:23 pm. However, when the warrant officer reached the police station at 12:40 am (on March 9), no copy of the FIR was shown to warrant officer, no arrest memo was shown and the police refused to release Dhaliwal, the court was told. It was also stated that arrest memo was prepared seven hours after he was picked up, adding that he was illegally picked up pre-FIR and FIR appears to have been filed post appointment of warrant officer. No grounds of arrest were provided to Dhaliwal, which is a mandatory constitutional requirement, the lawyers had argued.