CHANDIGARH: Former Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) chairman Ravinderpal Singh Sidhu also known as Ravi Sidhu was today sentenced to seven years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 75 lakh in the sixteen year in disproportionate assets and forgery case by the of the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Mohali in the in the infamous ‘cash for jobs’ scam.
Pronouncing the quantum of the sentence besides seven year rigorous imprisonment the court on also slapped a fine of Rs 75 lakh on him. The court found Sidhu, guilty of having accepted bribes for appointing inspectors in the Excise and Taxation Department on January 11, but acquitted five other accused Randhir Singh Gill, Prem Sagar, Gurdip Singh, Surinder Kaur and Parmajit Singh acquitted for lack of evidence who were also accused in the case.
He was accused of having sent Rs 1.36 crore through 'hawala' channels out of the country, forging a will, and having bank lockers under false names.
Punjab Vigilance Bureau booked Sidhu under 467, 468, 471 and 120-B sections of the IPC as well as various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act on March 25, 2002. The bureau had seized Rs 8.30 crore from several lockers after the registration of the case against him. As he also allegedly had lockers in various banks under false names.
Sidhu had also allegedly forged a will to grab property of Avtar Singh Sekhon in Himachal Pradesh.
A former journalist Sidhu became PPSC chairman in 1996 and had almost completed his six-year term when he was arrested on March 25, 2002.