After spending around four months in jail, suspended IPS officer Gurjinder Pal Singh was released on Saturday from Central Jail Raipur.

The High Court of Chhattisgarh on May 12 granted bail to the suspended IPS officer, who was arrested in connection with a disproportionate assets case. The court has granted bail to Singh on terms and conditions, including that he will not give any press interview nor make any public statement in connection with the case.

As per the order, he shall appear before the trial court on each and every date given by the said court till the disposal of trial; he shall, if his headquarter is not fixed by the State at Raipur, shall not stay at Raipur except on the days of the Court proceedings/departmental enquiry; the suspended officer have to inform to the trial court in advance in a closed envelope about his stay.

The trial court shall keep the same on record and it may be used if occasion so arises, said the order.

The applicant and his family members shall not alienate/mortgage any immovable property without the permission of the trial court, the order said.

The order also added that the applicant shall not contact the witnesses in any manner and not act in the manner which may affect the trial.

During argument on bail application of the suspended officer in the High Court, Singh’s counsel submits that the applicant is innocent and has been dragged into absolutely a false case. They submit that this case has been registered just to harass the applicant; tarnish his image in the society and thereby damage the dignity and uprightness. They further submit that from the overall conduct of the investigating agency it is palpably clear that it is acting hand in glove with the highly placed officers of the state by dint of political vendetta.

On the other hand, the state counsel opposes the bail application of Singh and submits that the argument of the applicant that the case against him is based on political vengeance is without any foundation as the public machinery has investigated the case on its own merits and found that such a senior officer indulged in serious crime of corruption and after investigation it was found that his income was more than 166.87% excess from the income about Rs 9,55,09,182.

The state counsel further submits that there is apprehension of applicant tampering with evidence, and during investigation one of the witnesses has been provided police protection and as the applicant is a senior police officer, he may affect the fair trial. Replying to this argument of the state counsel, counsel for Singh submitted that the applicant is ready and willing to remain out of Raipur and abide by all the terms and conditions as may be imposed by the court.

The agency had registered an FIR against Singh, a 1994-batch IPS officer, under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act on June 29 last year after preliminary findings into complaints that he had allegedly amassed disproportionate assets. Later, the agency carried a three-day search at around 15 locations linked to the officer from July 1 to July 3 (2021) and claimed to have discovered movable and immovable assets worth around Rs 10 crore. Based on the documents recovered during the raids, Raipur police also registered a case on charges of sedition and promoting enmity against Singh, who was suspended on July 5.