The special court of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday awarded four years rigorous imprisonment (RI) to former Punjab senior division judge Manmohan Singh Walia for amassing Rs 52.4-lakh assets disproportionate to his income.
The case was registered in 1998. Walia, who was suspended in November 1997 and subsequently dismissed from service, was held guilty of criminal misconduct under the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act on Tuesday.
Pronouncing the sentence on Thursday, the court of special CBI judge Gagan Geet Kaur also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on him besides ordering confiscation of some of his properties.
A total of 107 people were made witnesses in the case, which comprised 204 hearings, a period during which five CBI judges changed, said senior public prosecutors Pawan Kumar Dogra and Kanwar Pal Singh, who represented the CBI.
{{/usCountry}}A total of 107 people were made witnesses in the case, which comprised 204 hearings, a period during which five CBI judges changed, said senior public prosecutors Pawan Kumar Dogra and Kanwar Pal Singh, who represented the CBI.
{{/usCountry}}Complaint
The CBI had registered a case against Walia on March 24, 1998, on the directions of the Punjab and Haryana high court (HC). Initially, Chandigarh Police had investigated the case after an HC internal probe found Walia guilty. On the HC’s complaint, the UT police had lodged an FIR against Walia, then a Bathinda court judge, on February 3, 1998.
The court had acted on the complaint of a Sector-9 resident and former HC lawyer BS Bindra and his wife Guddi Manjit.
Bindra had stated in his complaint that half portion of a house in Sector 9 was in his family’s name and the other half, in which Walia had started living, was in the name of HP Singh, a non-resident Indian (NRI), who was Walia’s “uncle”. Bindra had alleged that Walia had got the portion for himself in Singh’s name.
Confiscation
The court ruled half portion of Walia’s house (No. 311 in Sector 9D), which was attached on June 7, should be confiscated and given to the UT administration. Similarly, movable property worth Rs 2.15 lakh — money in the accounts of Walia and his wife Parminder Kaur — are to be handed over to the UT administration under Section 452 of the CrPC.
Also property (movable/immovable) worth Rs 29.7 lakh will be forfeited to recover the remaining amount.
Walia’s wife and his elder son and daughter, both of whom are practising lawyers, were also present during the hearing. While the children were in the courtroom during the time of sentencing, his wife waited outside praying all the while.
The former judge had filed multiple petitions in the HC and Supreme Court, but on most occasions did not succeed in getting relief. Walia had alleged that Bindra had conspired to “frame” him with a former Punjab and Haryana HC judge, with whom Bindra practised at the Ludhiana courts and later at HC. However, the HC had termed the allegations “far-fetched”.