Capt seeks bail, hearing today

Amarinder, in his application, maintained that the case registered against him was politically motivated. He pleaded that he should not be arrested as he suffered from a heart problem. He also promised not to tamper with the evidence.

Earlier, the Punjab Police had issued lookout notices for the former chief minister at all airports, directing the police to arrest him the moment he landed in India. Amarinder filed the transit bail to avoid arrest and get the opportunity of a hearing in court.

Amarinder, along with Chaudhary Jagjit Singh, former local bodies minister and 13 others, were booked on various charges in the controversial multi-crore Ludhiana City Centre project on March 23.

The former Chief Minister, who flew to London for a medical check-up soon after being sworn in as MLA last month, promised to return home after getting the nod from his doctor.

He is expected to arrive early next week. Interestingly, he had earlier stated that he would not seek anticipatory bail. Calling it a trumped up charge, he accused the Parkash Singh Badal Government of indulging in vendetta politics. Speaking on phone from London, he said he would return to face the charges. He also warned Badal against targeting his partymen.

Interestingly, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, the leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly, today said she would not give Amarinder a clean chit. “But I don’t think he is an accused either … the law will take its own course,” she said at a press conference in Amritsar.

The former chief minister has been booked under Sections 409 (Criminal breach of trust by a public servant), 420 (Cheating), 467 (Forgery of valuable security), 468 (Forgery for the purpose of cheating), 471 (Using as genuine a forged document) and 120-B (Criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under the Prevention of Corruption Act.