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Plot allotment case: Manpreet Badal files pre-arrest bail plea in HC
Former finance minister Manpreet Badal on Wednesday filed an anticipatory bail plea in the Punjab and Haryana high court in the Bathinda plot allotment case
BATHINDA : Former finance minister Manpreet Badal on Wednesday filed an anticipatory bail plea in the Punjab and Haryana high court in the Bathinda plot allotment case.
Manpreet was booked by the vigilance bureau (VB) under Prevention of Corruption Act, and Sections 420 (cheating), 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant) 467 (forging a document that pretends to be a valuable security) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC on September 24.
The petitioner approached the HC while challenging the dismissal of his pre-arrest bail in Bathinda sessions court on October 4.
In a petition filed through advocate AS Cheema, the five-time legislator said the VB investigation was motivated by a political vendetta “to please the Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann”.
The petition was not listed yet.
The petitioner stated that efforts of his arrest were aimed at maligning his reputation.
On September 26, Bathinda chief judicial magistrate Daljit Kaur issued an arrest warrant against Manpreet.
The VB probe claimed that Manpreet colluded with Bathinda Development Authority (BDA) officials and his close aides to buy two residential plots by alleged abuse of his then ministerial position and forgery.
Investigators have arrested three persons, who are stated to be the close aides of the ex-minister in the same case and say Manpreet’s arrest is needed for further investigation.
Manpreet is evading arrest since a first information report (FIR) was registered by the VB in Bathinda on September 24.
Sleuths have been raiding several places in Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, and Rajasthan to nab the accused Manpreet.
In his petition, the veteran politician said the entire probe was a sham and he is a victim of a vendetta by the political dispensation of Punjab.
The petition stated that Manpreet had appeared before the VB when summoned to join the probe and was ready to do so but the VB unfairly insisted on custodial investigation.
