Lawyer linked to PPSC scam recommended for HC Judge post

G S Cheema approached me with cash-for-job offer, said conduit in 2002 scam in court
Chandigarh, April 19:On January 18 the collegium of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, headed by Chief Justice Vijender Kumar Jain, recommended the names of eight lawyers for elevation to the Bench.
One of the candidates recommended for HC judgeship is G S Cheema, whose name finds a mention in the statement of former Markfed officer Randhir Singh Gill alias Dheera, the main conduit for Ravinderpal Singh Sidhu, former chairman of Punjab Public Service Commission who allegedly masterminded and executed the jobs-for-cash scam. Dheera’s statement was made in court.
Dheera said Cheema had contacted him on behalf of two candidates willing to pay huge amounts of money to clear the coveted Punjab Civil Service (Executive Branch) exam. Dheera later turned approver and is the main prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of Sidhu. When contacted, Cheema, a law officer in the office of Advocate General, Punjab, refused to comment.
The Ravi Sidhu case, which had hit national headlines, was unearthed by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau in March 2002 and resulted in a number of PCS officers, including judicial officers, selected by the commision with Sidhu at the helm being thrown out of their jobs.
In his statement under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure made before Judicial Magistrate (First Class), Kharar, on May 15, 2002, Dheera had given details of all deals brokered by him. He struck to his statement before Bhupinder Singh, Special Judge-cum-Additional District and Sessions Judge, Patiala, in August 2006. He also provided details of 30 cases in which candidates were selected after money was paid to Sidhu through him.
Dheera’s statement—made in court—says Cheema contacted him to get Balraj Kaur (nomination register A-1, 1996) and Pritpal Singh (nomination register-C, 1996) into the PCS after paying Rs 25 lakh each to Sidhu.
His statement says that in Kaur’s case the money was delivered to Sidhu by her husband while Pritpal Singh chose to hand over the money to Sidhu himself. Both were selected by the PPSC.
A committee of High Court Judges had submitted a report on the future of the candidates who were sacked after the scam. The committee also relied upon the statements made by Dheera.
THE SCAM
The jobs-for-cash scam came to light on March 25, 2002 when PPSC Chairman Ravinderpal Singh Sidhu was caught red-handed accepting a bribe of Rs 5 lakh from a PCS nominee.
The most striking image associated with the scam was the sight of crores of rupees that tumbled out of Sidhu’s bank lockers after they were opened by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau. Vigilance teams had recovered Rs 9.57 crore in cash, Rs 8.99 crore in bank accounts, shares and debentures, properties worth crores, all amassed through corruption by the former journalist Sidhu and his close relatives. The trial is going on.
Maneesh Chhibber
Posted online: Sunday, April 20, 2008 at 0026 hrs
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