High court grants interim bail to former MLA Dharam Singh Chhoker on medical grounds

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana high court on Thursday granted interim bail to former MLA and Congress leader Dharam Singh Chhoker on medical grounds. Chhoker, a former MLA from the Samalkha assembly segment of Panipat district in Haryana, is currently in the custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money laundering case deemed "illegal."Justice Sandeep Moudgil passed the order after hearing the plea filed by the former lawmaker. The copy of the detailed order was not available at the time of filing the current report.“Dharam Singh Chhoker has been granted interim bail by the HC on medical grounds. He had a serious medical issue with his shoulder after the ED arrested him in a brutal manner outside a hotel. Chhoker has been directed to surrender back on July 1,” the former MLA’s counsel, Senior Advocate Vikram Chaudhari, confirmed to TOI.The matter is now fixed for July 3 for further hearing.In his plea, the former lawmaker, who was picked up by the ED in a dramatic manner from a Delhi-based hotel on May 4, has been claiming that neither the arresting officer justified the necessity to arrest him nor did the court at the time of remand evaluate the same. Therefore, the non-application of mind to this quintessential sine qua non renders the entire proceedings of arrest and remand vitiated.

He has sought directions to quash and set aside the “illegal and unconstitutional” arrest via the arrest order dated May 5 and the patently routine and mechanical remand orders dated May 6, 9, 13, and 17 passed by the special court in Gurgaon for being violative of the forms and rules of law, resulting in the infringement of his fundamental rights. Further directions were also sought for the immediate release of the petitioner from custody, as his further incarceration would not only violate the constitutionally guaranteed fundamental rights of the petitioner but also, on account of his grave indisposition and lack of adequate medical treatment, even a single day in custody would be perilous for his life.“The petitioner brings to the fore a deliberate and calculated attempt on the part of the ED to humiliate, harass, vilify, and subject the petitioner to physical as well as mental torture, primarily on account of him being a known face of the Congress party in the state of Haryana, having been a member of the state assembly until October 2024,” his counsel submitted.