SC directs Amarinder to return from abroad within month

New Delhi, Oct 12 (UNI) The Supreme Court today directed former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh to return from abroad within a month.

A bench comprising Justices A K Mathur and Markandey Katju directed Capt Singh to cooperate with the investigation in the Rs 100 crore Ludhiana City Centre Scam case also.

The court granted liberty to the Punjab government for moving the Punjab and Haryana High Court for the cancellation of the ex-Chief Minister's bail if he did not cooperate with the State Vigilance Bureau, which is investigating the scandal.

Today's order was passed on a petition by the Punjab Government challenging a High Court order dated October 8, permitting Capt Singh to go abroad for 50 days.

The apex court also directed that in future, the accused will not be allowed to go abroad without the permission of the High Court.

Earlier, the bench described the petition of the State government as politically motivated and said, ''Do not make this court a football ground for settling political scores.'' Reacting sharply to the remarks of the bench, senior counsel K K Venugopal said, '' There are 11 benches functioning in the court and different benches pass different orders on the same issue.

We can only gamble about the fate of our case. In the US and the UK, there may be different benches but ruling on the identical issues are same.'' The bench later reduced the period of Capt Singh's foreign visit from 50 days to 30 days.

UNI