Patiala: A local court has ordered the arrest of former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh’s former adviser Bharat Inder Singh Chahal in a disproportionate assets case registered against him by the vigilance bureau on Aug 2, 2023.
“Chahal stands charged with the offence of Sections 13 (1) B and 13 (2) of Prevention of Corruption Act, and you are instructed to arrest and produce him before the court on Oct 28,” chief judicial magistrate Amandeep Kaur directed Patiala vigilance bureau SHO in her orders passed on Oct 22.
Chahal served as media adviser to Amarinder during his term from 2002 to 2007 and as an adviser in his second term from 2017 to Sept 2021.
In Sept 2023, Patiala additional sessions court had rejected Chahal’s anticipatory bail application and ordered his custodial interrogation.
Chahal had moved the Punjab and Haryana high court, which granted him interim protection from arrest in Oct 2023. In Nov 2023, the VB questioned Chahal for three hours. However, on Oct 5 of this year, the high court dismissed Chahal’s anticipatory bail plea.
The vigilance probe had said that Chahal’s income was Rs 7.85 crore while he incurred expenses of Rs 31.79 crore. The probe had revealed that Chahal constructed a marriage palace on the Patiala-Sirhind road, purchased a plot measuring 2,595.36 square yards on the Patiala-Nabha Road, and erected a five-storey commercial building on it.