Mohali, July 8 -- A local court has granted interim bail to Gurpreet Singh, president of Universal Educational Society (UES), in the alleged Ballopur village shamlat land misuse case, observing that custodial interrogation was not required at this stage after a Punjab National Bank (PNB) official clarified that the bank had never created an encumbrance over the ownership of the gram panchayat land. Additional sessions judge Prashant Verma passed the order on July 6 in connection with an FIR dated June 17, registered at Dera Bassi police station under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) relating to cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy. The FIR was lodged following a complaint by the district development and panchayat officer (DDPO), Mohali, alleging that clauses permitting a loan against 68 bighas and 14 biswas of Ballopur village shamlat land had been fraudulently inserted into the 2009 lease deed executed in favour of the society. During the hearing, Gurpreet Singh's counsel argued that the society had never mortgaged the gram panchayat land and that loans were secured against his personal properties. The defence also relied upon a supplementary lease deed executed in 2010, contending that it clarified the disputed conditions in the original lease agreement. The court independently sought clarification from PNB. Senior manager Sushil Kumar Arora appeared before the court and submitted an affidavit stating that the society possessed only leasehold rights over the land, that the bank had never claimed ownership of the gram panchayat property and would never sell it, and that additional immovable properties and personal guarantees had been provided as security for the loan. Relying on the bank's affidavit, the court observed that the ownership interests of the gram panchayat appeared to remain protected and that the relevant documents were already with the investigating agency. It directed Gurpreet Singh to join the investigation within 10 days and ordered that, in the event of his arrest, he be released on interim bail subject to conditions, including cooperating with investigators, not influencing witnesses, not tampering with evidence and not leaving India without the court's permission. The matter has been listed for July 18 for submission of the final report. In a development, the court also took note of an affidavit filed by Gurpreet Singh alleging that self-proclaimed whistle-blower Resham Singh had demanded Rs.5 crore to withdraw his complaint. The accused submitted a pen drive purportedly containing an audio recording of the alleged demand along with a certificate relating to the electronic evidence....