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THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS
50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

Ravinder Pal Singh Sidhu is under investigation for charges related to bribery and having amassed unaccounted-for wealth as Chairman of the Punjab Public Service Commission. Given below are links in chronological order to related stories.

March 25, 2002 to
 April 23, 2002

April 24, 2002 to
May 8, 2002

May 9, 2002
 onwards

Ravinder Pal Singh Sidhu PPSC Chairman in Vigilance net
 To be produced in court today
Chandigarh, March 25
In a trap, the Punjab Vigilance Bureau today caught red-handed Public Service Commission Chairman Ravinder Paul Singh Sidhu while accepting a bribe of Rs 5 lakh at his residence in Sector 39. Till the filing of this report, search of his residence was continuing.

HC seeks DGP’s explanation
Non-production of PPSC Chairman
Chandigarh, March 26
Punjab Public Service Commission Chairman Ravinder Pal Singh Sidhu, reportedly booked by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau after conducting raids at his residence in Sector 39 here, was not produced before the Punjab and Haryana High Court despite directions. 


PPSC Chairman Ravinder Pal Singh Sidhu is produced at a court in Kharar on Tuesday. 
— Tribune photo Manoj Mahajan

One-day remand for Sidhu
Kharar, March 26
Mr Roshan Lal Chouhan, Judicial Magistrate, Kharar, today remanded Ravinder Paul Singh Sidhu, PPSC Chairman, in police remand for one day and ordered that the accused should be produced in court tomorrow.

Sidhu remanded till March 31
Search warrant issued
Kharar, March 27
Mr Roshan Lal Chouhan, Judicial Magistrate, here today remanded Ravinder Pal Singh Sidhu, PPSC Chairman, in police custody till March 31.

PPSC Secretary ‘burnt’ record
Patiala, March 28
The Punjab Public Service Commission will meet on April 1 to deliberate on the alleged burning of the record of the Commission on two occasions in the recent past, and the mode of functioning of the PPSC after the arrest of the Chairman.

Sidhu remanded till April 3
Kharar, March 31
Mr Roshan Lal Chouhan, Judicial Magistrate, Kharar, today remanded Ravinder Pal Singh Sidhu, PPSC Chairman, to police custody till April 3 and ordered that he be produced at 10 a.m. that day.

Govt in a fix over Sidhu case
Chandigarh, April 1
The euphoria over the arrest of the Punjab Public Service Commission chief, Mr Ravi Sidhu, here last week notwithstanding, the State Vigilance Bureau finds itself in a piquant situation. The state government has initiated the process to recommend his suspension to the President through the Governor.

PPSC chief to be produced in court today
Kharar, April 2
A day after the vigilance raid on the PPSC office in Patiala, a revision petition was filed in the court of Roopnagar Sessions Judge seeking declaration as null, void, illegal, contrary to law and setting aside the Kharar court remand orders remanding PPSC chairman Ravinderpal Singh Sidhu in police custody thrice.
A TRIBUNE INVESTIGATION
How Ravi Sidhu got Kasauli lodge
Chandigarh, April 3
Was the Masonic Lodge at Kasauli bequeathed to the Punjab Public Service Commission chairman Ravi Sidhu by Mr Autar Singh Sekhon , a former Chief Engineer of Punjab and a member of the Council of the All-India Institute of Engineers?
Masonic lodge in Kasauli

Further remand for Ravi Sidhu
Kharar, April 3
Mr Roshan Lal Chohan, Judicial Magistrate, today extended the remand of Mr Ravinderpal Singh Sidhu, PPSC Chairman, in police custody till April 5.

A TRIBUNE INVESTIGATION—II

How Sidhu dealt in shares online
Chandigarh, April 4
The Vigilance team investigating PPSC Chairman Ravi Sidhu’s corruption case achieved a major breakthrough when, assisted by certain computer software specialists, it was able to decipher some of the confidential files on his personal computer. The files contain valuable information about investments made by him in the share market.

Sidhu in judicial remand till April 19
Kharar, April 5
A local court today further remanded Punjab Public Service Commission Chairman Ravinder Paul Singh Sidhu to judicial custody till April 19 in an illegal gratification case. The orders were pronounced by Judicial Magistrate Roshan Lal Chouhan here.

Transfer of PPSC Secretary cancelled twice earlier
Chandigarh, April 8
The case that got PPSC Chairman Ravi Sidhu in the Vigilance net had been pending with him for the past several months. It was somewhere in the middle of last year that the Punjab Government recommended a list of 13 names under the “C” register for filling one post of PCS officer.

DISTRICT COURTS
Production warrant against Ravi Sidhu
Chandigarh, April 9
A local court issued a production warrant against Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) Chairman, Ravinder Pal Singh Sidhu for April 11 on a request made by the Chandigarh police to seek his arrest in a case registered against him under the Excise and Arms Act in Sector-39 police station.

Sidhu remanded to judicial custody till April 24

Chandigarh, April 11
The Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) Chairman, Ravinder Pal Singh Sidhu, was today remanded to judicial custody till April 24 by a local court in two different cases under the Excise and Arms Act registered against him in the Sector 39 police station.

Punjab Public Service Commission Chairman Ravinder Pal Sidhu produced in a UT court in two different cases registered against him in Sector 39, Chandigarh, on Thursday.
—A Tribune photograph		 Punjab Public Service Commission Chairman Ravinder Pal Sidhu produced in the local court


A TRIBUNE INVESTIGATION
Transfer to Sidhu took 9 yrs
Kasauli
This quiet cantonment town has suddenly shot into prominence with the arrest of Punjab Public Service Commission, chief Ravinderpal Singh Sidhu, who is constructing a house here. A scrutiny of the Cantonment records reveal that the controversial Masonic Lodge was registered way back in September 1902. It was later transferred to Mr Autar Singh Sekhon by virtue of a sale deed by a member, Narain Dutt, for Rs 16,000 vide a resolution of members of the lodge’s Triune Brotherhood on November 11, 1966.

The Masonic Lodge

DISTRICT COURTS
Ravi Sidhu’s bail plea dismissed
Chandigarh, April 12
A bail plea moved by Punjab Public Service Commission Chairman Ravinder Pal Singh Sidhu under the Arms Act was today dismissed by a local court. The accused was yesterday remanded to judicial custody till April 24 by the Magistrate in two different cases registered against him under the Excise Act and the Arms Act.

Home Panel records staff statements
Burning of PPSC record
Patiala, April 13
There was renewed activity at the Punjab Public Service Commission today with the inquiry committee to look into the burning of some record of the commission, including the PCS (Executive) examination sheets of 1998 — holding a meeting at the commission headquarters here, besides recording the statements of various employees.

PPSC chief hospitalised
Patiala, April 14
The Chairman of the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) Mr Ravinder Paul Singh Sidhu, who is in judicial custody was admitted in the Central Jail hospital today when he complained of backache and diabetes.

Sidhu’s hand alleged in record burning
Patiala, April 15
All five members of the Punjab Public Service Commission today accused Chairman of the Commission Ravinderpaul Singh Sidhu and former Commission Secretary of a “dubious’’ role in the burning of answersheets of the PCS (Executive) paper of 1998 and urged the government to institute an independent probe or vigilance inquiry into the entire matter.

Key player in Sidhu case held
Chandigarh, April 18
The Vigilance Bureau has made its second major breakthrough in the Punjab Public Service Commission Chairmans’ corruption case by taking in custody Jagman Singh, a key figure, who reportedly used to manage not only the “unaccounted funds” but also allegedly acted as a “conduit between his boss and the candidates”.

Sidhu case: remand for hawala suspect
Kharar, April 18
Mr Roshan Lal Chouhan, Judicial Magistrate here today remanded Mrs Surinder Kaur, who was arrested by the Punjab Vigilance Department on the charge of sending money of Ravinder Pal Singh Sidhu, Chairman PPSC, through hawala transaction abroad, in police custody till April 20 and ordered that she should be produced in the court at 11 am on April 20.

8.16 cr found in Sidhu’s lockers
Chandigarh, April 19
In what is the single largest haul of the ill-gotten wealth of Punjab Public Service Commission Chairman Ravi Sidhu, sleuths of the Punjab Vigilance Department today recovered a whopping Rs 8.16 crore stashed away in five lockers of IndusInd Bank in Sector 8, here.
Role of banks under scrutiny
Chandigarh, April 19
Investigations and recoveries made by the Vigilance Bureau in the Ravi Sidhu case have raised serious doubts about the role and functioning of banks, especially in the private sector, as the conduct of some of the bank officials has not been free from “suspicion” and “unlawful conduct”. Certain bankers may land in the Vigilance net and face action in the Sidhu case.
Sleuths of the Punjab Vigilance Department raid bank lockers of PPSC Chairman Ravi Sidhu in Chandigarh on Friday. — PTI photo


Sidhu alleges torture in jail


Stacks of money! Rs 8.16 crore recovered from five bank lockers of members of the family of arrested Punjab Public Service Commission Chairman Ravi Sidhu in Chandigarh on Friday. 
— Tribune photo Manoj Mahajan
Home Tax men also on Sidhu’s trail
Chandigarh, April 20
Sleuths of the Income Tax Department are closing in on the arrested Punjab Public Service Commission Chairman, Ravi Sidhu, with their own investigation into the origin of huge cash amounts and other assets which have been recovered by the Punjab Vigilance Department.

Ravi Sidhu case tip of the iceberg
Chandigarh, April 20
Why did the SAD-BJP alliance lose the Assembly elections seven weeks ago? The high level of corruption. The arrest of the Chairman, Punjab Public Service Commission, Ravi Sidhu, and subsequent recovery of cash in crores from the lockers taken by him and his family is just a tip of the iceberg.

Treasury to keep money from Sidhu’s lockers
Kharar, April 20
Mr Roshan Lal Chouhan, Judicial Magistrate, here today ordered that the Rs 8.16 crore recovered by Vigilance officials from bank lockers of relatives of PPSC chief Ravi Sidhu yesterday from Chandigarh be deposited with the Ropar district treasury sealed in packets for safe custody under double locker.

Sidhu case: probe enters crucial phase
 Chandigarh, April 21
Investigations in the Punjab Public Service Commission case have entered a crucial phase. Informed sources say that the investigating agency — the Punjab Vigilance Bureau — has got a lot of information about the means used to select candidates by commission Chairman Ravi Sidhu.

Jagman’s remand extended
Chandigarh, April 21
Jagman Singh, one of the alleged touts of PPSC Chairman Ravinderpal Singh Sidhu, who was booked by the Vigilance Bureau for corruption, was sent in judicial custody by a lower court at Kharar near here till May 4 after he expressed his willingness to become an approver in the case.

No decision to cancel PPSC tests, interviews
Patiala, April 21
Punjab Public Service Commission Member Amarjit Singh Chawla today clarified that no decision had been taken to cancel the written test and subsequent interviews, including screening tests, held for the posts of Deputy Superintendent of Police, Deputy Superintendent (Jails), Block Development and Panchayat Officer, District Probation Officer and lecturer recently held by the Commission.

639 PPSC recruitments cancelled
Chandigarh, April 22
The Punjab Government has cancelled the process related to all 639 recruitments under way in the Punjab Public Service Commission and ordered a probe into 3,446 recruitments done by it with Mr Ravi Sidhu as Chairman.

In video (28k, 56k)

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh addresses a Press conference in Chandigarh on Monday. To his left is Chief Secretary Y.S. Ratra and Inspector-General of Police Vigilance A.P. Pande. — Tribune photo Manoj Mahajan

PU Senator held; names 5 who bribed Sidhu
Chandigarh, April 23
The Punjab Vigilance Bureau has arrested Paramjit Singh alias Pammi, one of the seven accomplices of the PPSC Chairman, Mr Ravi Sidhu. While his interrogation is continuing, in the preliminary information he has given names of five persons, who allegedly paid money to Ravi Sidhu for their selection. Pammi is a Senator of Panjab University, Chandigarh.

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