MOHALI: The district court on Wednesday dismissed the regular bail plea of former Punjab cabinet minister Sunder Sham Arora.
The court of Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADSJ) Parminder Singh Grewal observed, “In view of the reasons discussed herein before and after keeping in view the gravity and seriousness of the alleged offences, the present bail petition filed under Section 439 of CrPC for the release of the petitioner on regular bail in this case is hereby dismissed as such.”
While dismissing the bail, the court also observed that arguments raised to the effect that there was no apprehension that the petitioner would run away from the process of law as he had a long-standing reputation in society as a politician and social worker. As the petitioner is a former minister and two-time MLA having all the resources at his command and if he is released on bail at this preliminary stage of the investigation, it appears to the court that he shall flee from the process of law, it observed.
Arora, two-term Congress MLA, who switched to the BJP in June this year, was arrested by the Vigilance Bureau last month for allegedly offering Rs 50-lakh bribe to an officer of the bureau in return for exoneration in a corruption case.