HC stays Amarinder's arrest

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday stayed the arrest of former Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh in the graft case registered against him by the Vigilance Bureau recently.

Singh, who is now in London, had moved the court on Wednesday through his counsel seeking anticipatory bail so that he is not arrested at the airport.

Three weeks after Parkash Singh Badal became Chief Minister, Singh and 18 others were booked by Punjab Vigilance Bureau on March 24 for alleged corruption and cheating in connection with the real estate Ludhiana City Centre scam.

The Vigilance Bureau, in its FIR, had accused Amarinder Singh of violating all norms in patronising and abetting the dilution of terms and conditions for favouring a particular party in executing the City centre project.

During the recent Punjab Assembly polls, the Ludhiana City Centre scam was a major issue for the Akali Dal, which charged Amarinder Singh with colluding with a developer in the allotment of a Rs3,000 crore project being developed by Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT).