A day after Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son Sukhbir Badal chose to stay away from the proceedings in a disproportionate assets case against them, today it was the turn of their bete noir, former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, to seek exemption from personal appearance in a graft case.

The case, which pertains to the Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT) land scam, came up for hearing before a special court in Mohali on Tuesday.

While Amarinder missed the trial as he was occupied in political activities following the recent Parliamentary elections, former Punjab local government minister Jagjit Singh and 13 other accused appeared before Additional and Special Judge S K Garg. Amarinder and all others have already been granted regular bail.

Besides Amarinder, former AIT chairman Jugal Kishore Sharma also sought exemption from personal appearance before the court today.

The court fixed June 3 as the next date of hearing in the case after accepting the exemption pleas of Amarinder and Sharma.

On February 10, the Punjab Vigilance Bureau had presented a challan against 16 persons named as accused in the FIR registered in Mohali after questioning Amarinder at his residence in Moti Bagh Palace in Patiala. A criminal case was registered against Amarinder and others after the former CM was indicted by a Punjab Assembly panel and expelled from the house in September 2008. The accused were booked under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act for cheating, forgery, tampering with official records and criminal conspiracy.

... contd.