Dutt, a former MLA from Anandpur Sahib had applied for bail, after having been booked for graft by the district police on May 21. He is accused of having accepted Rs 10, 000 from Kamaljit Singh on promise of getting him a driver's job in the rural development office in 1993.

While dismissing his bail plea, the court observed that taking money for appointment from some person is clearly a misconduct and that too by a person, who has been elected by the people to serve and not to rob. The court also held that such a conduct from an elected person is not warranted or appreciable.

Dutt was represented by Raja Bhupinder Singh in the court, while Amar Singh appeared as the public prosecutor. Dutt was booked on the complaint of Kamaljit Singh at the Nurpur Bedi police station near here on May 21. In the FIR registered against Dutt, Kamaljit Singh accused him of having accepted Rs. 10,000 from him. However, his name did not figure among those short listed for the post of driver. Kamaljit further charged that Dutt had threatened him of ``dire consequences'', when he asked him to return the money. On the basis of an affidavit submitted by Kamaljit Singh, the police had registered a case under various sections of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act.

While SSP Ranbir Singh Khatra said the case was registered after seeking a legal opinion from an appropriate authority, Dutt accused the police of engineering a plot against him. He said that it was a part of a larger conspiracy to nail him by his opponents in power.