SC to decide on interim stay on Amarinder bail tomorrow

New Delhi, June 17 (UNI) The Supreme Court will decide tomorrow whether to grant an interim stay or not against the Punjab and Haryana High Court order in which the High Court granted anticipatory bail to former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, his son Raninder Singh, his former media advisor BIS Chahal and former Punjab Minister Choudhary Jagit Singh, who are facing allegations of causing heavy loss to the state exchequer in Ludhiana City Centre (LCC)scam.

A Vacation bench comprising Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice P P Naolerkar will hear tomorrow the appeal of the state of Punjab, challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court judgement granting anticipatory bail to the the accused in the Rs 100 crore scam.

Capt Amarinder Singh and his family members are facing allegations of making Rs 100 crore through corrupt means in the 1240 crore LCC project under which countries biggest shopping complex was to come up on 26 acres of land.

Other accused in the case againt whom the state government has moved the Supreme Court include Sunil Sharma, Sayyed Arshad Husain Naqvi, GK Gambhir, Vinay Subhikhi, and Raminder Singh, brother-in-law of Raninder Singh.

According to the Punjab Government, Capt Amarinder Singh and others have not cooperated with the Punjab Vigilance Bureau during the investigation of the case and hence their custodial interrogation is a must to unearth the truth and also to fix the responsilbility on those who caused huge losses to the state exchequer for personal gains by giving contracts to a particular company in violation of the rules.

The Punjab Government has also alleged that Capt Singh had written a letter to Congress President Sonia Gandhi in September 2006 that the petition of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal will be dismissed by the Supreme Court while the judgement of the apex court came in December 2006.

According to the Punjab government, Capt Singh transferred about Rs 20 crore to different accounts in the name of his family members between March and April 2005 in eight instalments.

If the Supreme Court grants interim bail tomorrow then the decks for the arrest of Capt Singh and others may be cleared and they may be arrested any time if the High Court order is stayed till the final disposal of the appeals of the State Government.

UNI