Bail petitions of Sanjay Popli, Vishal Chauhan dismissed

Tribune News Service

Mohali, August 29

The Mohali district courts today dismissed the bail applications of Punjab-cadre IAS officer Sanjay Popli and Indian Forest Service officer Vishal Chauhan.

The duo was produced in the courts of Additional District and Sessions Judge Avtar Singh and Parminder Singh Grewal, respectively.

Justice Avtar Singh dismissed the regular bail application of Popli, who was arrested by the Vigilance Bureau on June 20 on charges of seeking 1 per cent commission for clearing the tenders for laying a sewer pipeline in Nawanshahr.

A 20-page chargesheet, containing the names of 55 witnesses, was filed before the court on August 19. Apart from gold, diamond and silver jewellery, a huge cache of ammunition was also recovered from Popli’s house.

In another case, Justice Parminder Singh Grewal, after hearing the arguments of the prosecution as well as of defence counsel, dismissed the bail application of Chauhan in the forest scam case.

The petitioner (Chauhan) had prayed that the Vigilance had no powers to arrest him in a corruption case. It was mandatory for the Vigilance to take prior approval from the Union Government as required under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, which it did not.

However, the court rejected the contention and dismissed the bail application of Chauhan, who has been under arrest since July 7, stating that since the investigation against the petitioner was incomplete, the benefit of bail could not be granted.

The court order read, “This court is of the considered view that instead of performing his official duties legally and truthfully, the petitioner, in connivance with his aforesaid other co-accused, has played an active role in demanding and receiving the aforesaid bribe of Rs 2 lakh from Davinder Singh Sandhu and had further played an active role in connivance with and through his other co-accused in demanding the alleged amount of Rs 1 crore first and Rs 10 lakh per month thereafter and Rs 5 lakh on sale of each farmhouse or land for himself and his other co-accused.”

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