Court jails Punjab official for graft

CHANDIGARH - A court here Saturday sentenced former Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer Bikramjit Singh to rigorous imprisonment of two-and-a-half years for possessing assets in excess of his known sources of income.

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) special judge Darshan Singh also slapped a fine of Rs.30,000 on Bikramjit Singh.

However, he was immediately granted bail after furnishing a Rs.100,000 bond.

According to CBI officials, the convict was accused of amassing over Rs.24 lakh in excess of his known sources of income.

Singh, who served as principal secretary to Parkash Singh Badal when he was Punjab chief minister in 1997, was held guilty under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Singh’s lawyer S.P.S. Bhullar said he would soon approach the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the verdict.

A 1973-batch IAS officer of the Punjab cadre, Singh was appointed as principal secretary to Badal Feb 12, 1997. A case was registered against him by the CBI following an anonymous complaint. Raids were conducted on his house and two shop-cum-office properties he owned.

A chargesheet was filed against him in January 2002, accusing him of having luxurious cars, various bank accounts and many agricultural and commercial properties in Chandigarh and Punjab.

Singh was promoted to the level of chief secretary in 2006, during the tenure of the Congress government, but was never given actual charge. Before joining the IAS, Singh had taken early retirement from the Indian Army as a captain.