Setting aside the pardon granted to them at a time when their appeals were already pending in the High Court, the appeals of the trio have been reserved for final orders. The trio moved the High Court challenging the life imprisonment granted to them by a lower court.

The three were booked on the charges of murdering a Barnala resident on March 3, 2001 and given life imprisonment by a lower court on March 28, 2005. They then moved the High Court challenging their life imprisonment, following which their sentence was suspended and they were released on bail. However, even before a decision could be taken on their appeal, they were given pardoned by the Governor.

When the relative of the deceased and the complainant in the case, Rajinder Singh, came to know about the development, he moved the High Court seeking setting aside of the pardon. The state counsel in trial court moved an application for the withdrawal of prosecution, which was declined by trial court, and subsequently its revision was also turned down.