Attach house provisionally, deposit its rent in District Treasury: Mohali court

The district Court of Mohali Saturday ordered to provisionally attach a 2 kanal house at Sector 20, Chandigarh, alleged to be the result of the crime proceeds, in a case of cheating and corruption registered by Vigilance Bureau.

The former Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini, is presently living in the house, and had been paying Rs 2.50 lakh as rent to the home owner.

The court of Parminder Singh Grewal, Additional Sessions Judge, Mohali, appointed the District Collector, Mohali, as receiver, to carry out the process of attachment of the house, by affixing notice in this regard at the conspicuous part of the house in question and to receive the rent of the same at the agreed rate of Rs 2,50,000 per month from its tenant Sumedh Saini from the date of this order till the House is occupied by Saini during the pendency of the present petition with a further direction to the receiver to deposit the rent in the District Treasury, Mohali, under the relevant account head.

The case pertains to September 17, 2020, registered by Vigilance Bureau, Mohali, under sections of forgery and the Prevention of Corruption Act, wherein accused Devinder Singh Sandhu, Director of the WWICS Estates and Nagendra Rao allegedly paid money as bribe to their other co-accused Ashok Kumar Sikka, the then Deputy Director, Department of Local Bodies and Shakti Sagar Bhatia, the then STP, MC, Patiala and Nimratdeep Singh, the Executive Engineer, who allegedly facilitated the regularisation of the illegal colony of the WWICS Estates in the name and style of Dream Meadows-1 with 17.5 Acres area and Dream Meadows-2 with 9 Acres area. However, later co-accused Nagandra Rao was turned as approver and granted pardon in this case by Mohali court.

As per court order, Nagandra Rao had alleged in the court that the Nimratdeep Singh has demanded Rs 6 crore approximately as bribe money besides the actual sale consideration price of about Rs 2 crore of their land, which was allegedly sold by Surinderjeet Singh Jaspal (father of Nimratdeep Singh) to the WWICS Estates. The father-son duo received Rs 8,17,69,287 in three separate bank accounts. It has been alleged that about Rs 6 crore was infact the alleged bribe amount received by them, as corroborated by the statement of Nagandra Rao.

Appearing for Vigilance Bureau, Sartej Singh Narula, Special Public Prosecutor, contended that Surinderjeet Singh Jaspal purchased a 2 Kanal House at Sector 20-D, Chandigarh by making payment of Rs 6,80,02,660, with the aforesaid crime proceeds allegedly received by Nimratdeep Singh, and further an execution of a rent agreement dated October 18, 2018 and the agreement to sell dated October 2, 2019 executed by Surinderjeet Singh Jaspal in favour of Sumedh Saini, Ex-DGP, Punjab with respect to the house at Sector 20, which is sought to be attached in this case. Furthermore, the house in question has been rented out by the accused to Saini, Ex-DGP, Punjab at the rate of Rs 2,50,000 per month.

The Court of ASJ Grewal, after hearing the matter held, ‘the aforesaid rent amounting to Rs 2,50,000 arising as a benefit from the aforesaid ill-gotten House purchased with alleged bribe money is also liable to be provisionally attached and deposited in State Treasury during the pendency of the present petition.’

The court thus ordered to attach the house in question, provisionally during the pendency of the present petition with a further direction to accused Surinderjeet Singh Jaspal (registered owner) not to alienate or transfer the house during this period.

The court also issued a show cause notice to Nimratdeep and Surinderjeet for September 29, to show cause as to why this provisional order of the ad-interim attachment of the aforesaid House be not made absolute.