Ambiguity over SIT on sacrilege cases keeps opposition guessing

CHANDIGARH: The Congress government’s announcement of constituting a special investigation team (SIT) to probe cases of sacrilege while taking the probe back from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is keeping the opposition parties guessing, who are now wondering about the exact role of the proposed team.

Punjab’s leader of opposition (LoP) Harpal Singh Cheema said ambiguity persists over the SIT as people expect it to take the commission’s report forward and come up with legally tenable conclusions to answer questions such as: who ordered the police firing at Behbal Kalan? “The government should clarify the role of the SIT so that there is assurance that it will unearth the truth. As it is, evidence in the cases is getting destroyed due to the delay,” the AAP MLA added.

Asked if the SIT would specifically look into the roles of former deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, as is being claimed by some Congress leaders, or revisit the entire inquiry report, a senior minister said it was a question that can best be answered by chief minister Amarinder Singh, who holds the charge of home department.

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema said, “By constituting the SIT, the Congress government has technically rejected by the Justice Ranjit Singh Commission’s inquiry report as its key recommendation was to hand over the cases to the CBI, which has not been accepted.” He alleged that by setting up the SIT, the Congress government only wanted to keep the pot boiling. “Having another probe only means that the cheap and dirty politics will continue.”

There have been reports that a section of Congress’s own leaders were not satisfied with the decision to merely take back cases from CBI and constitute an SIT through a resolution on the last day of the monsoon session, as it came after some fiery speeches from both the Congress and AAP legislators.

Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar has, meanwhile, demanded that the SIT should prove deeper into the role of SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal in the police firing as the then home minister. Going a step further, corporation minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa has demanded that “trio of Parkash Singh Badal, Sukhbir Singh Badal and Sumedh Singh Saini must be taken into custody for unearthing the truth about who ordered firing.”

AAP MLA H S Phoolka, who has even threatened to resign if the commission’s recommendations are not implemented, added, “The assembly session was abruptly adjourned after passing the resolution on sacrilege cases. Though setting up of the SIT is fine, the government needs to first act on the inquiry commission by going beyond the junior police officials against whom some action has been taken as per the action taken report (ATR) tabled by the state government.”

It was on the last day of monsoon session of Punjab assembly that a resolution was passed to constitute an SIT of Punjab Police for a time-bound investigation into the Bargari and other sacrilege cases, as well as police firing incidents of Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura.