Chandigarh: Former chairman of the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) Ravinder Pal Singh Sidhu alias Ravi Sidhu was today sentenced to seven years rigorous imprisonment by a Mohali court in a disproportionate assets and corruption case.  

Additional District and Sessions Judge Monika Goyal pronounced the verdict in the case here today. Besides, a fine of Rs 75 lakh was also imposed on a former journalist.  

Sidhu was held guilty under sections 467 (forgery of security), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document), 120-B (punishment for criminal conspiracy) of the IPC and relevant sections of the Prevention of the Corruption Act, said Deputy District Attorney, Mohali, Satnam Singh.  

Punjab Vigilance had seized over Rs eight crore of cash from several lockers belonging to Sidhu and his relatives and registered a case in Mohali on March 25, 2002. He was accused of forging documents to grab a property in Himachal Pradesh.  

On January 10, the court convicted Sidhu in this case and acquitted five other accused -- Randhir Singh Gill, Prem Sagar, Gurdip Singh, Surinder Kaur and Parmajit Singh due to lack of evidence, said Singh.  

In 2015, a Patiala court had sentenced Sidhu to seven- years rigorous imprisonment in connection with the 2002 cash- for-job scam. Sidhu was caught by the state vigilance bureau while allegedly accepting a bribe for offering employment to a candidate in March 2002. PTI