HC suggests Amarinder to withdraw petition on Amritsar Improvement Trust

Stating that the "petition was not maintainable", the Punjab and Haryana high court suggested Capt Amarinder Singh to withdraw his petition seeking transfer of the 2008 Amritsar Improvement Trust case from the special vigilance court in Mohali to any court outside Punjab.

Stating that the "petition was not maintainable", the Punjab and Haryana high court on Wednesday suggested the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief and former Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh to withdraw his petition seeking transfer of the 2008 Amritsar Improvement Trust case from the special vigilance court in Mohali to any court outside Punjab.

Amarinder's petition came up for hearing before the bench headed by justice MMS Bedi that stated that Amarinder was not the only person involved in the case. The bench said that though the ongoing hearing may not suit Amarinder but no other party had raised objections to it.

The bench added, Amarinder cannot take guarantee of other parties involved in the case as to whether they were satisfied with the hearings of the case in Punjab or not. The bench also pointed out that the petition was also "technically not correct". When the bench was about to dispose of the petition, Amarinder's counsel sought some time to rectify the petition.

Amarinder had alleged that the public prosecutor in the case was working under the influence of the ruling SAD-BJP government and there was very less chance of a fair trial of the case. He had also submitted before the court that the public prosecutor was directly functioning under the administrative command of deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, who heads the home department. Since there is a political rivalry between him and the Badals, fair trial of the case cannot be expected.

The bench adjourned the case for September 11 for next hearing.