Leader of Opposition in Punjab Vidhan Sabha Sukhpal Singh Khaira and Lok Insaaf Party (LIP) MLAs - Balwinder Bains and Simarjeet Bains - on Sunday questioned the Chandigarh Police's "stoic silence" over registering FIR in the alleged 'bribery audio clip'.
Hinting at some "pressure" by the politicians or the judiciary, Khaira and Bains brothers declared to move the Punjab and Haryana
High Court in case the Chandigarh police failed to register the FIR into the sensational charges of bribery made in the 5.22 minutes audio clip provided to them.
"Why is the Chandigarh police dithering to register FIR regarding sensational disclosures made in the 'bribery audio clip' released by us. Is it under pressure by politicians or the judiciary?" said Khaira.
Mincing no words, they said that there was every possibility that there was pressure to prevent an investigation as a name of sitting judge is repeatedly mentioned in the alleged bribery audio clip.
Khaira said he had made a specific statement on December 11, 2017, to SP (Operations and Training) Ravi Kumar wherein he had categorically listed the chain of events that led to the dismissal of his revision petition in the High Court.
"Now that four senior most judges of the Supreme Court had come out publically to expose malfunctioning in the administration of Supreme Court and have held the Chief justice of India (CJI) responsible for it, it is all the more imperative that the Chandigarh police should probe the bribery audio clip after registering a FIR," they stressed.
Wondering why the Chandigarh police was taking such a sensational bribery matter so casually, they
questioned if it was "under pressure from some political hierarchy or is it afraid to investigate persons connected with the judiciary?"
Khaira and Bains said that they had these apprehensions because they had personally met the Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court in the presence of two senior most judges on November 27, 2017, to explain the chronology of sleazy bribery audio clip, but unfortunately no action has been taken in the matter.
Khaira and Bains said that registration of a FIR was a legitimate right of all citizens under the Constitution of India. "Chandigarh police should first register a FIR and then proceed against the culprits, as they would be empowered with summoning and if need be arresting the accused," he said.
They said that there was very deep chain leading to the audio clip as one Rana Hardeep Singh, nephew of Punjab Cabinet Minister Rana Gurjeet Singh, and the Minister himself are deeply involved in the conspiracy to frame Khaira in the NDPS case at Fazilka. "I have listed the names of all persons involved in the conspiracy against me, including one Rajinder Singh Gill alias Bhatta advocate, APP Gurbaz Singh, SP Ajmer Singh, Inspector Jaswant Singh etc, in my statement before the SP Ravi Kumar," he said.