DA case: VB files challan against Punjab ex-Deputy CM OP Soni

PK Jaiswar

Amritsar, August 31

The Vigilance Bureau (VB) today filed a challan against former Deputy Chief Minister OP Soni in connection with a disproportionate assets (DA) case in the court of Additional Sessions Judge Sudhir Verma.

Confirming the development, a senior VB officer said, “We had to file the challan before the expiry of 60 days since the registration of the case. Further investigations are continuing.”

The VB had booked Soni under Section 13 (1) read with 13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act-1988 on July 9 this year. He is currently in judicial remand.

The VB had filed a complaint against Soni in October last year. Following an eight-month-long investigation, the VB registered a case against him.

The VB said it analysed his sources of income and expenditure during from April 2016 to March 2022. Soni and his family had an income of Rs 4.52 crore, while their expenditure was Rs 12.48 crore, which was 176 per cent (Rs 7.96 crore) more than his known sources of income.

The ex-minister had amassed properties in the name of his wife Suman and son Soni, the VB said.