Chandigarh, 30 January 2025: The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday granted interim anticipatory bail to former Chandigarh mayor Kuldeep Kumar in a cheating case registered by the Chandigarh Police.
Issuing a notice of motion to the Union Territory of Chandigarh, Justice Mahabir Singh Sindhu scheduled the next hearing for February 6.
The decision comes just ahead of the mayoral election, allowing the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor to cast his vote.
Kuldeep Kumar’s counsel argued that his client was falsely implicated in the FIR, registered on January 29 at the Chandigarh crime branch under Section 318 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
During the hearing, the court was informed that the petitioner had not received a copy of the FIR despite repeated attempts. Advocate Ferry Sofat said Kumar only became aware of the case through media reports.
Sofat further mentioned that the petitioner’s reputation and personal liberty had suffered due to the case.
He alleged that police personnel in civil clothing, along with other officials, had been visiting Kumar’s residence with the intent to arrest him, purportedly to prevent him from voting.
The complaint, filed by Ravi Kumar of Ram Darbar, alleges that Kuldeep Kumar and his brother-in-law took ₹75,000 to secure a sweeper’s job for the complainant’s brother in a “privately owned company under the municipal corporation.”
