Court allows Amarinder Singh to travel abroad

A special court today allowed former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh, facing trial in a graft case, to visit foreign countries from Thursday.

Accepting Amarinder's plea, special judge SK Garg granted him permission visiting Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Thailand on furnishing it with personal bond of Rs5 lakh and a surety of the same amount.

Amarinder is facing trial in a high-profile graft and criminal case pertaining to Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT) land scam.

The Congress stalwart, who was present in the court, had produced personal bond to get clearance for his scheduled visit to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Thailand from April 15 to May 17.

On April 10, the court had reserved order after the arguments were concluded. Strongly opposing the plea, attributing it as an "attempt to escape", the prosecution had apprehended that the former chief minister would not return back to face trial.

His counsel submitted that Amarinder wants to visit abroad for release of his latest book and other requirements.