A local court today convicted and
sentenced a Punjab minister to one year in jail for misusing his official
position.
Punjab agriculture
minister Tota Singh was held guilty of misusing his official position and
vehicle by the court of Additional District and Sessions here.
Judge Rajinder
Aggarwal also slapped a fine of Rs 30,000 on the minister.
However, he was
acquitted in another case of owning assets disproportionate to his known
sources of income registered against him in 2002.
The minister was
present in the court at the time of pronouncement of the verdict.
The court said that
in case the minster defaults in paying the fine he would have to further
undergo six months in prison. However, the minister immediately paid the fine.
Singh's plea for bail
was allowed by the court to enable him to approach a higher court.
Punjab Vigilance
Bureau had in 2002 booked Singh for possessing property worth Rs ten crore,
which was stated to be disproportionate to his known sources of income during
the SAD-BJP regime from 1997-2002.
Singh is the second
minister in SAD-BJP coalition government in the state to be jailed after senior
minister Bibi Jagir Kaur.
Kaur was sentenced
recently in connection with a case related to the mysterious death of her
daughter.
Courtesy Press Trust of India
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