M A I N   N E W S

Sidhu’s bail plea rejected
Tribune News Service

Patiala, May 11
Patiala District and Sessions judge S.N. Aggarwal today rejected the bail application of Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) Chairman Ravinder Pal Singh Sidhu in a case relating to taking illegal gratification while making selections which had been filed by the local Vigilance Bureau at Patiala on April 30.

A case under Sections 420, 467,471, and 120 (B) of the IPC and Sections 7 and 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act had been registered against Sidhu here. He had applied for bail under Sections 439 and 438 of the CrPC.

The defence argued that if the accused had been arrested by the police in the case then he should be released on regular bail. It said in case this was not the case, the fact that the accused was already in judicial custody in a Vigilance trap case registered at Mohali, he should be deemed to be in custody in the present case also.

The defence lawyer claimed that since Sidhu had remained in police custody in the Mohali case and had also been interrogated thoroughly in the case, there was no need for any custodial interrogation in the present case registered at Patiala.

District Attorney Vijay Kumar Markan, while appearing for the prosecution, submitted that Sidhu had not been arrested so far in the present case registered at Patiala and he could not be presumed or considered to be in custody in the present case because the case registered at Mohali was completely different. Mr Markan said in the Mohali case, Sidhu had been arrested while taking a bribe of Rs 5 lakh from Excise Inspector Bhupjit Singh, while in the present case the police required his custodial interrogation so that he could answer the allegations levelled by his touts Randhir Singh Dhira, Paramjit Singh Pammi and Prem Sagar.

According to the District Attorney, the touts had specifically stated that Sidhu had taken money for making various appointments through them and that they had handed over the money received from the candidates to him. He said among the disclosures were the general rates for various posts which were around Rs 60 lakh to Rs 1 crore for Deputy Superintendents of Police (DSPs), Rs 20 to Rs 35 lakh for PCS (Judicial), Rs 40 to Rs 60 lakh for PCS (Executive), Rs 25 to Rs 40 lakh for BDPOs and Rs 3 to Rs 6 lakh for lecturers.

Mr Markan also disclosed that former PPSC Secretary Pritpal Singh had disclosed while joining the investigation that Sidhu had started staying in Chandigarh only after 1999. He said Pritpal Singh had disclosed that all secret work in the commission was done by Sidhu himself and that all boards and subject experts were appointed by him alone. He said similarly it had also come to light that the answer sheets were assigned to specific examiners by Sidhu himself.

The District Attorney said in the face of these facts Sidhu was required for custodial interrogation so that the interrogating officer could ask him complete details of the money which had exchanged hands, besides details of other candidates who had given bribes to get selected to various services.