DA case: PPSC ex-chief Ravi Sidhu gets 7-year jail
A FINE OF RS 75 LAKH WAS ALSO IMPOSED ON THE EXJOURNALIST BY ADDITIONAL DISTRICT AND SESSIONS JUDGE MONIKA GOYAL
MOHALI: A local court on Monday sentenced former chairman of the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) Ravinder Pal Singh Sidhu alias Ravi Sidhu to seven-year rigorous imprisonment in a disproportionate assets case.
Additional district and sessions judge Monika Goyal also imposed a fine of Rs 75 lakh on the former journalist. Sidhu was held guilty under sections 13(1)(e) and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Sidhu waited patiently as the pronouncement of the sentence was delayed by over two hours. Soon after the sentence, Sidhu was whisked away in a waiting police van. He covered his face with the copy of the court order obviously to avoid getting clicked by photojournalists.
The vigilance bureau had seized over Rs 8 crore cash from several lockers belonging to Sidhu and his relatives and registered a case in Mohali on March 25, 2002.
On January 11, the court convicted Sidhu in the case and acquitted five other accused -Randhir Singh Gill, Prem Sagar, Gurdip Singh, Surinder Kaur and Parmajit Singh due to lack of evidence.
In 2015, a Patiala court had sentenced Sidhu to seven-years rigorous imprisonment in connection with the 2002 cash-forjob scam. Sidhu was caught by the state vigilance bureau while allegedly accepting a bribe for offering employment to a candidate in March 2002.