By IANS
New Delhi : The Punjab government Monday moved the Supreme Court, challenging grant of anticipatory bail to former chief minister Amarinder Singh's son Raninder Singh, accused of receiving Rs.210 millions in kickbacks for facilitating allotment of land to a private builder in Ludhiana.
A vacation bench of Justices Arijit Pasayat and D.K. Jain also issued notice to Raninder Singh's brother-in-law Raminder Singh Thakkar, who had also been granted anticipatory bail.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court had granted anticipatory bail on May 24 in the case in which Amarinder Singh is also named as an accused.
The Punjab government challenged the order and said that the approach of the single judge in a matter involving very serious offences would amount to minimising the gravity of the offences and denying an opportunity to the investigating agency to uncover the truth.
It said the investigating agency had been able to seize valuable electronic data that "clearly links the respondents with the embezzlement of funds worth crores of rupees".
"It is submitted that more than Rs.21 crores (Rs.210 million) is shown to have been deposited into the account of respondent No.1 (Raninder Singh) maintained by one hawala agent named Chetan Gupta, who has already been taken into custody."
As for Raminder Singh Thakkar, the special leave petition said: "The statement of one Rameswhar Dutt Awasthi, recorded under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cr.P.C.), categorically reveals that Thakkar was involved in each and every meeting in which the conspiracy was hatched and taken to its conclusion."
The petition said that custodial interrogation of the two accused was essential to get to the root of the scam and to bring to book all those involved in embezzlement of funds worth Rs.30 billion (Rs.3,000 crores).
It sought quashing of the high court order and cancellation of the anticipatory bail granted to the two respondents.
The Vigilance Bureau of Punjab had registered March 24 a criminal case alleging that the former chief minister and various members of his family had received kickbacks in the Ludhiana City Centre project through Delhi-based businessman Chetan Gupta.