Arrest warrant issued against BIS Chahal
The court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Amandeep Kamoboj has issued an arrest warrant against Bharat Inder Singh Chahal (72), ex-adviser to former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, in an alleged disproportionate assets (DA) case.
The case was registered by the Vigilance Bureau in Patiala under Sections 13(1)B and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act on August 23 last year. The court has directed that Chahal be arrested and produced before it on October 28.
The allegations are that Chahal, during the previous Congress tenure and Amarinder’s stint as the CM, allegedly received hefty bribes by adopting corrupt practices and he, along with his wife, invested that money in properties.
The inquiry was initiated by the bureau in November 2022 in respect of two properties, a marriage palace on the Patiala-Fatehgarh Sahib road and a construction on a commercial site in PUDA Enclave-1, Nabha Road, Patiala. The FIR was registered in August 2023.
On October 10, the Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissed the anticipatory bail application of Chahal. Justice Mahabir Singh Sindhu asserted the custodial interrogation was needed to ascertain the source of alleged assets and for facilitating a fair probe.
“The arrest of the petitioner is very much necessary to interrogate him for eliciting the actual source of disproportionate assets and to complete the investigation in a fair and transparent manner,” Justice Sindhu asserted.
Chahal’s total income during the check period was Rs 7.85 crore, while his expenditure was assessed at over Rs 31.79 crore. “Prima facie, he is in possession of assets disproportionate to the known sources of his income; rather he accumulated the same while abusing his power and position as media adviser to the then CM,” reads the order of the High Court.
