Disproportionate asset case: Ferozepur court frames charges against ex-MLA, husband

According to the vigilance bureau, ex-MLA Satkar Kaur Gehri allegedly spent 170% more than her known sources of income ever since she was elected an MLA on the Congress ticket from the reserved seat of Ferozepur Rural in 2017.

Ferozepur district court has framed charges against the ex-MLA Satkar Kaur Gehri and her husband Jasmail Singh alias Ladi Gehri in the disproportionate assets (DA) case.

Ex-MLA Satkar Kaur Gehri

As per the vigilance bureau (VB) probe, Satkar allegedly spent 170% more than her known sources of income ever since she was elected an MLA on the Congress ticket from the reserved seat of Ferozepur Rural in 2017.

She joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2022 after the Congress denied her the ticket from her political turf.

A VB’s spokesperson disclosed on Tuesday that the court of additional sessions judge Kewal Krishan framed charges against the accused on June 7, after which a trial against the accused commenced.

“The bureau filed a challan against Satpal Kaur and her husband in court on March 1 this year. The move was initiated after obtaining permission from the Vidhan Sabha speaker against the ex-MLA,” a written statement by the VB mentioned.

Satkar and her husband were arrested on September 18, 2023, under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act and Section 120-B (hatching criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.

Investigators said that when Satkar was elected as a legislator in 2017, she and her husband had assets worth ₹7.05 lakh.

After the allegations of corruption, the VB checked the income and expenditure details of the ex-MLA and her husband from April 1, 2017, when she was elected from Ferozepur Rural to next five years till March 30, 2022.

“In this period of five years, the MLA and her spouse had an income of ₹1.65 crore from all declared sources. But investigation revealed that the accused ended spending ₹4.33 crore in this period that made a strong case against them,” VB officials added.