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Plot allotment case: Manpreet Badal files anticipatory bail plea in Bathinda court
Sukhdeep Singh Bhinder, who represented Manpreet Badal in the court, said on Saturday that along with the bail plea, they had submitted a transcript of chief minister Bhagwant Mann’s recent public address where he allegedly stated that the five-time legislator will be sent behind the bars.
Nearly two months after he was questioned by the vigilance bureau (VB) in a case pertaining to the alleged illegal allotment of land in his name, former finance minister and Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) leader Manpreet Badal filed a pre-arrest bail application in the Bathinda district court.
The additional district and sessions judge Ram Kumar Singla has listed the matter for September 26.
The court has asked the state and VB to produce police records on the day of hearing, Tuesday.
Sukhdeep Singh Bhinder, who represented Manpreet in the court, said on Saturday that along with the bail plea, they had submitted a transcript of chief minister Bhagwant Mann’s recent public address where he allegedly stated that the five-time legislator will be sent behind the bars.
“The bail application states that CM is trying to mount pressure on the VB. Badal duly accepted VB’s summons and appeared before its Bathinda zone office on July 24 and submitted all details related to the plot allotment. The probe is a result of political vendetta and the police administration may be abused to harass Manpreet on fabricated grounds,” said Bhinder.
As per official sources privy to the probe, no first information report (FIR) has been lodged against Manpreet yet.
The veteran politician has been terming the complaint a bundle of lies claiming there was no irregularity in the plot allotment.
Manpreet was summoned following a complaint by former MLA Sarup Chand Singla who had alleged irregularities in the purchase of a property in a prime location in Bathinda city.
Singla, who too had switched from the Shiromani Akali Dal to the BJP, had filed a complaint before vigilance in September 2021 alleging that during his tenure as finance minister in the previous Congress regime, Manpreet had abused his position by converting commercial plots in the Model Town into residential plots for himself.
The allotment was done by Bathinda Development Authority (BDA).
In July, Manpreet was grilled for over four hours.
In a scathing attack on his colleague in the saffron party, Manpreet had termed the complaint an outcome of the ‘political frustration’ of Singla, who is a former legislator from Bathinda Urban.
After appearing before the VB in July, the former finance minister had shared documents to state that Singla had earlier lodged a complaint with the Lokpal, and the same was dismissed on September 13, 2022, as “there was no representation on the behalf of the complainant.”
