The Punjab vigilance bureau on Thursday booked Bharat Inder Singh Chahal, who held a cabinet rank in the Captain Amarinder Singh government as advisor, in a disproportionate assets case on Thursday.
The case has been registered under Section 13 (1B) and 13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act against Chahal, according to a vigilance bureau official who asked not to be named as he is not authorised to speak to the media.
Official said that during the probe, it was found that Chahal has amassed 300% more assets than his known sources of income. “This is just the beginning of the probe as the vigilance has to verify many more properties purchased under different names, including those of family members and relatives,” he added.
Chahal, who was advisor to the CM from 2017 to 2021, had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after Captain Amarinder Singh was unceremoniously ousted as chief minister in 2021 by the Congress high command. Later, Singh snapped ties with the Congress and switched to the BJP.
Chahal had evaded the vigilance for more than six months on the pretext of health issues, but later joined probe after taking interim relief from the high court.
The vigilance had in December last year issued a lookout circular (LOC) against him. The probe agency had inspected Chahal’s Alcazar marriage palace on Patiala-Sirhind Road in January this year to ascertain the value of the property. The vigilance had also taken measurements of a shopping complex, owned by Chahal on the Nabha Road near the mini-secretariat.
In 2007, Chahal was booked for corruption during the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP rule and faced a probe by the vigilance bureau. In 2016, he was acquitted in the case as all 77 government witnesses turned hostile.
