Chandigarh:
Senior Akali leader and former Punjab minister Bibi Jagir Kaur was granted bail by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in Chandigarh today.
Handing down the orders, a division bench of the court comprising Justice AK Mittal and Justice GS Sandhawalia directed Ms Kaur to seek the court's permission before going abroad, her counsel RS Cheema said.
Ms Kaur is serving a five-year sentence at the Kapurthala Central Jail. She was convicted in March of various criminal charges related to her teen daughter's death in 2000.
The teenager, Harpreet, was forced into an abortion by Ms Kaur. She died under mysterious circumstances. No post-mortem was conducted. Bibi Kaur was at that time the president of the powerful Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). Harpreet's family said she had died of severe dehydration, vomiting and fever.
When Bibi Kaur was arrested, she was the only woman in the Punjab cabinet.
A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) special court in Patiala on March 30 this year convicted the then minister of forcible abortion, wrongful confinement, abduction and criminal conspiracy. She was, however, absolved of the charges of murdering her daughter.
Ms Kaur has been surrounded in controversy about receiving special treatment in jail ever since she was convicted. Video footage showed she was driven up to the jail in an air-conditioned Innova car. A policeman in the jail, in a gesture of respect, also bent down to touch her feet.
Ms Kaur was also a chief guest at a religious function held inside the jail where she was seen honouring Jagjit Singh, Inspector General, Prisons. At the function, Ms Kaur, who is also the head of the Dera Sant Baba Prem Singh, honoured some other jail officials as well, including the Jail Superintendent.
(with inputs from PTI)