Chandigarh, July 8
Granting regular bail in a corruption case to former Health Minister in the AAP-led government Vijay Singla, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today asserted useful purpose would not be served by keeping him incarcerated any longer.
Elaborating, Justice Lisa Gill asserted there were no allegations that he was likely to abscond or influence the witnesses and the trial was not likely to conclude in the near future. The Bench added the mobile phone of the petitioner and a co-accused was stated to have been taken in possession and no other recovery was stated to have been made from him.
Justice Gill also took on record the statement of Advocate-General Anmol Rattan Singh Sidhu that the investigation in the matter was complete, subject to the District Attorney’s approval. It was also verified that the petitioner was not involved in any other criminal case and had not protested or objected to give voice samples as asked for by the prosecution. “The petitioner shall not directly or indirectly try to contact or influence the complainant/witnesses in any manner. Any such infraction may lead to cancellation of this concession,” Justice Gill added.
In the petition filed and argued by senior advocate Vinod Ghai with Kanika Ahuja, Kirti Ahuja and Edward Augustine George, Singla had submitted that he was arraigned as an accused in the FIR because his political opponents wanted to tarnish his image.
Singla had submitted that the present FIR was lodged on the statement of Rajinder Singh, a Superintending Engineer on deputation in the Punjab Health Systems Corporation. As per the complainant, he recorded the conversation with the petitioner in a secret concealed device and then transferred the same to his phone. In such circumstances, the veracity and authenticity of the alleged conversation was not verified by the investigating agency before registering the present FIR.
HC grants bail to ex-Health Minister Singla in bribery case
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