SC protects BIS Chahal from arrest in assets case
The Supreme Court on Monday protected from arrest Bharat Inder Singh Chahal, former media adviser to the then Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, who is accused of possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
“In the meantime, no coercive measures be taken against the petitioner, provided the petitioner extends all cooperation during the investigation and trial,” the Bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Prasanna B Varale said in its order.
Issuing notice on Chahal’s petition challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s order dismissing his anticipatory bail application, the Bench asked the Punjab Government to file its response in four weeks. The order came after senior counsel Siddharth Luthra submitted that Chahal (76) was suffering from various ailments and that he was ready to cooperate in the investigation.
Terming it a “politically motivated” case, the petitioner submitted that the high court’s October 4 order was based on “wholly untenable grounds” and was “replete with factual inaccuracies”.
Asserting that custodial interrogation of the accused was required to ascertain the source of the alleged assets and facilitate fair probe, the high court had on October 4 dismissed his anticipatory bail plea.
“The arrest of the petitioner is very much necessary to interrogate him for ascertaining the actual source of disproportionate assets and to complete the investigation in a fair and transparent manner,” the HC had said.
Chahal served as media adviser to the Punjab Chief Minister from April 1, 2017, to August 31, 2021, and the FIR in disproportionate assets case was lodged against him on August 2, 2023, under various provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, within two years of his demitting the office.
