‘Vendetta cases’ unite Punjab legislators
Can withdrawal of serious corruption cases against the current and former chief ministers of Punjab help promote cordial political atmosphere in Punjab?
Certainly yes, if one were to consider the suggestion made by Satpal Gosain, Deputy Speaker of the Punjab Assembly, in a letter to the Speaker. Gosain has suggested that a resolution be moved in to withdraw all cases lodged against important people “out of political vendetta.”
In an unprecedented show of bonhomie between the ruling Akali Dal and the opposition Congress, Gosain’s suggestion has been enthusiastically lapped up by members of both parties who have raised a demand for withdrawal of cases against their respective leaders which, they say, were registered out of “political vendetta.”
However, one has to look at the dramatis personae who could become beneficiaries of such “bonhomie.”
Corruption cases registered against Badal family—Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal—and former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh would fall under the purview of the proposed bailout.
Not only that, Speaker Nirmal Singh Kahlon, who has been indicted by the CBI in a case relating to alleged nepotism and bribe in the recruitment of 909 panchayat secretaries in his previous avatar as a minister, may also avail of the benefit of such a proposal.
Leader of Opposition Rajinder Kaur Bhattal of the Congress, against whom a case of causing loss to state exchequer was pending, would be the other beneficiary.
Chief Minister Badal and his son Sukhbir are facing trial in a graft case lodged by the previous Congress government. After the Akali Dal-BJP alliance assumed power in 2007, Capt Singh was booked in several cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act, including the multi- crore Ludhiana improvement trust scam. While Kahlon has forwarded the issue to the state Advocate General seeking his legal opinion the legal fraternity is shocked at such suggestion of bailout of leaders charged with corruption.
DH News Service
