Sacked Punjab health minister gets bail in bribery case

Sacked Punjab's Health Minister Vijay Singla was granted bail on Friday by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in a bribery case. The bench of Justice Lisa Gill allowed his bail plea.

Singla was accused of demanding "one per cent commission" in tenders and purchases by his department.

In his bail petition through his counsels, Singla contended that the "first information report (FIR) was the outcome of political rivalry" and wreaking vengeance had "gathered unprecedented popularity among the masses."

He was sacked from the Cabinet of the Bhagwant Mann government on May 24 and arrested shortly afterwards on corruption charges.

The Chief Minister had said the minister was involved in corruption cases and he had proof of that.

Reiterating his government's firm commitment to make Punjab a corruption-free state, Mann had said Singla was dismissed for seeking one per cent commission in a department headed by him.

First-time legislator Singla, 52, a dentist by profession, won from Mansa. He had defeated popular Punjabi singer and Congress candidate Shubhdeep Singh, also called Sidhu Moosewala, by a margin of 63,323 votes, the highest winning margin in the election.

Singla did Bachelor of Dental Surgery from Punjabi University, Patiala. His wife is an Ayurveda practitioner.