Virbhadra Singh, wife granted bail in disproportionate assets case

New Delhi, May 29

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and wife Pratibha Singh were on Monday granted bail by a special court here in connection with a Rs 10 crore disproportionate assets case.

Special Judge Virender Kumar Goyal granted the relief to all the accused on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh each and one surety of the like amount.

The court, however, asked them not to leave the country without its permission.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

Earlier in the day, the CBI had opposed the bail plea of the Chief Minister saying they might influence the witnesses and the ongoing probe in a disproportionate assets case against them.

The public prosecutor said Singh was the “king of the state”, and if granted bail, no one would come forward to depose before the court.

In their bail plea, Virbhadra and the other accused submitted that the investigation was complete as the CBI had already filed the chargesheet.

But the CBI said the investigation in the case was still on and granting of bail might hamper it.

The 82-year-old politician had also cited several medical reports, saying he was suffering from serious ailments.

The accused persons also claimed that they would be able to look after their case in a better way if they were out on bail.

Singh and wife Pratibha Singh on May 22 appeared as accused in connection with a nearly Rs 10 crore disproportionate assets case and sought bail.

The CBI has chargesheeted Virbhadra Singh, his wife, Universal Apple Associate owner Chunni Lal Chauhan, stamp paper vendor Joginder Singh Ghalta, Managing Director of Tarani Infrastructure Vakamulla Chandrasekhar and co-accused Lawan Kumar Roach, Prem Raj and Ram Prakash Bhatia for the alleged offences, including criminal conspiracy, forgery and corruption.

The chargesheet also names as accused LIC agent Anand Chauhan, who was arrested in the case and is currently in judicial custody.

The court had on May 8 summoned them after taking cognisance of the chargesheet filed by the CBI. PTI