Ex-Punjab minister Jagir Kaur gets bail in abduction case

Former Punjab Minister Bibi Jagir Kaur was today granted bail by the Punjab and Haryana high court about seven months after her conviction in a case for conspiring in forcible abduction, kidnapping and wrongful confinement in connection with the killing of her daughter.

Handing down the orders, a division bench of the court comprising Justice A K Mittal and Justice G S Sandhawalia directed Kaur to seek the court's permission before going abroad, Kaur's counsel R S Cheema said.

Kaur, a former President of Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee (SGPC), was awarded five years imprisonment and also fined Rs 5,000 by the special CBI court of Patiala in March this year.

A day after her conviction she resigned as minister. She is presently lodged in Kapurthala jail.

In this case, three others Dalwinder Kaur Dhesi, Paramjit Singh Raipur and Nishan Singh were also convicted by the Patiala court under section 120-B (Criminal Conspiracy). The three were fined Rs 5,000 each.

Another accused Satya Devi was acquitted of all charges while another accused Sanjiv Kumar died during the trial. Harpreet had died under mysterious circumstanced during the intervening night of April 20 and 21, 2000, en route from Phagwara to Ludhiana's Christian Medical College and Hospital.

Citing that there was "no foul play" and Harpreet Kaur's death was natural due to fever, vomiting and severe dehydration, her post-mortem was not conducted and she was cremated in a hurried manner on April 21 at the Bibi's home village Begowal (Kapurthala) 12 years ago.

A few days after Harpreet's death, Kamaljit Singh, a resident of Begowal claimed that he was her husband and father of Harpreet's stillborn child. On April 27, 2000, Kamaljit approached the Punjab and Haryana high court. On June 9, 2000, the HC directed the CBI to conduct an inquiry into the matter.