CM Amarinder Singh
The Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly, Sukhpal Khaira, on Wednesday urged CM Amarinder Singh to either quit or handover investigations of corruption cases involving Amritsar and Ludhiana improvement trusts to the CBI for trial outside the state. Addressing a press conference, Khaira said the rejection of Vigilance Bureau’s cancellation report in the Amritsar Improvement Trust land scam case, involving Capt Amarinder Singh, by the Mohali Special Court Judge Jaswinder Singh on August 24 called for “impartial, transparent and fair trial”.
“A free and fair trial is highly impossible if Capt Amarinder Singh continues to be the CM and Home Minister controlling the prosecution as well as the Vigilance Bureau of the state,” said Khaira.
While rejecting the cancellation report filed by VB, the court on August 24 held that the report was based on “surmises and conjectures”, he added.
Pointing out that the treasury benches led by then CM Parkash Singh Badal had got Capt Amarinder Singh expelled as MLA on the basis of a Vidhan Sabha committee report indicting him in the infamous Amritsar Trust scam, Khaira said that few years later it was the same Badal controlled VB that filed the said cancellation report giving Amarinder a clean chit. The cancellation report was filed on October 4, 2016.
“It only goes to show that the Badals then, and Amarinder Singh now are misusing the criminal justice system of Punjab to arm twist each other and then settle matters behind the curtains,” Khaira said.
He said it was in 2002 that the first case of corruption and disproportionate assets was registered against the Badal family, but Badal on assuming office in 2007, “misused” the prosecution and VB to trash the corruption case and procured a “manipulated” acquittal in 2008. He added that the acquittal was never challenged by Amarinder in any higher court, indicating a compromise between them.
About the two corruption cases against Amarinder filed in 2008, Khaira alleged, “After having arm twisted Capt Amarinder Singh into complete subjugation, the Badals very conveniently pushed both the scandalous cases in the cold storage, despite damning and blatant corruption by Amarinder as CM.”
Khaira said keeping in view the dubious track record of the prosecution machinery and the Vigilance Bureau of Punjab particularly with Captain being CM, there was no chance for a fair and judicious trial in the improvement trust scams.
