Former Chandigarh Mayor Kuldeep Kumar gets interim bail in fraud case ahead of municipal polls

Ravi Singh

Chandigarh, Jan 30: In a significant development, just ahead of the mayoral elections, the Punjab and Haryana High Court granted interim anticipatory bail to former Chandigarh Mayor and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Kuldeep Kumar in a fraud case. The court’s direction has now cleared the way for Kumar to vote in the crucial election. Justice Mahaveer Singh Sindhu issued notice to the Union Territory of Chandigarh in the case filed by Kumar and called for a hearing on February 6.

The Chandigarh police registered a case against Kuldeep Kumar under Section 318 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at the Crime Branch police station on January 29. Kumar’s advocate Feri Sofat said that his client has been falsely implicated and he has no knowledge about the FIR. Claiming that he had sought a copy of it several times, he was not given a copy.

The court was told that Kuldeep Kumar first came to know about the allegations through media reports. According to the report, Ravi Kumar, a local resident of Ram Darbar, has filed an FIR against Kuldeep Kumar and his brother-in-law for allegedly demanding Rs 75,000 from him for getting him a job as a sanitation worker in a private company linked to the municipal corporation.

He also said that the petitioner’s reputation has suffered a lot due to the allegations levelled. Police and administrative officials in civil dress were allegedly used at his house several times to detain Kumar ahead of the mayoral election.

The case has taken on a political colour as the mayoral election nears. Kumar’s bail ensures that he remains an active participant in the electoral process, which is crucial for the AAP’s position in Chandigarh’s municipal corporation administration. The next hearing on February 6 will shed more light on the case as Kumar has insisted on his innocence.