Dheera’s statement—made in court—says Cheema contacted him to get Balraj Kaur (nomination register A-1, 1996) and Pritpal Singh (nomination register-C, 1996) into the PCS after paying Rs 25 lakh each to Sidhu.

His statement says that in Kaur’s case the money was delivered to Sidhu by her husband while Pritpal Singh chose to hand over the money to Sidhu himself. Both were selected by the PPSC.

A committee of High Court Judges had submitted a report on the future of the candidates who were sacked after the scam. The committee also relied upon the statements made by Dheera.

THE SCAM

The jobs-for-cash scam came to light on March 25, 2002 when PPSC Chairman Ravinderpal Singh Sidhu was caught red-handed accepting a bribe of Rs 5 lakh from a PCS nominee.

The most striking image associated with the scam was the sight of crores of rupees that tumbled out of Sidhu’s bank lockers after they were opened by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau. Vigilance teams had recovered Rs 9.57 crore in cash, Rs 8.99 crore in bank accounts, shares and debentures, properties worth crores, all amassed through corruption by the former journalist Sidhu and his close relatives. The trial is going on.