The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday granted bail to former Akali minister Bibi Jagir Kaur seven months after she was jailed for forcible abduction, kidnapping and wrongful confinement in connection with the killing of her daughter Harpreet Kaur.
While granting bail to her, a division bench of the court comprising Justice Ajay Kumar Mittal and Justice G.S. Sandhawalia directed Kaur to seek the court’s permission before going abroad.
The court also hinted that it was in favour of expeditious hearing of the appeals filed by Kaur against the sentence and the CBI for the enhancement of sentence.
Kaur was holding charge of three department including panchayats and rural water supply in the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP government when the court held her guilty of criminal conspiracy, illegal confinement and involvement in the forceful abortion of her daughter’s 27-week-old male foetus.
The court had acquitted her of the charge of murder. She had tendered her resignation from the cabinet after her arrest in wake of the conviction and lodged in Kaurthala jail.
Kaur’s daughter Harpreet alias Rosy had died under mysterious circumstances on April 20, 2000. She was cremated at Begowal – Kaur’s native village in Punjab’s Kapurthala district – a day after her death without a post-mortem examination or initiating the inquest proceedings.
Kamaljit Singh – a youth from the same village who claimed to have married Kaur’s daughter and fathered her child – moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court a week later alleging Kaur’s involvement in Harpreet’s murder.
On June 9, 2000, the HC directed the CBI to conduct an inquiry into the matter. However, the CBI court acquitted Kaur and arrested Dalwinder Kaur Dhesi and Paramjit Singh Raipur, a Phagwara- based couple, on the charges of forcible abortion, conspiring to murder and destruction of evidence.
News Source: Mail Online
