Ludhiana, April 26
Former local bodies minister Chaudhry Jagjit Singh, facing serious allegations in the multicrore City Centre Scam, denied anticipatory bail which was dismissed by special judge Gurbir Singh today.

The judge held, “The statement of Chief Engineer Manmohan Singh that the minister had accepted Rs 1 crore as a bribe from the managing director of Today Homes Company in the presence of another official of the Ludhiana Improvement Trust, who was not accused in this case, can't be ignored at this stage''.

The judge further held that the Vigilance Bureau had placed on record sufficient evidence to show that the accused had ignored all bylaws and rules pertaining to the Improvement Trust Act while clearing the project.

''Custodial interrogation of the accused was necessary in view of the allegations levelled against him. As such, he is not entitled for the discretionary relief of pre-arrest bail”, Gurbir Singh observed.

The judge also rejected the anticipatory bail applications filed by two other accused, Sanjeev Gupta, GM (Marketing and Sales) of Today Homes, and its assistant manager, Marketing, Sourav Gupta.

However, the President gold medal awardee Ashwajit, MD of Infrastructure Professionals Enterprises, was granted anticipatory bail by the court. He was directed by the court to join the investigation, as and when required by the Vigilance Bureau.

Despite the rejection of anticipatory bail application of former minister, the Vigilance Bureau can't arrest him in view of the orders passed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The high court has passed orders that Jagjit Singh will not be arrested for another three days, from the date of pronouncement of orders by the Ludhiana court, even if he did not get any relief.

Meanwhile, judicial magistrate today remanded the executive officer of the Ludhiana Improvement Trust D C Garg and chief engineer Manmohan Singh to judicial custody till May 10, 2007. They were arrested in this case by the Vigilance Bureau on April 21.