Punjab Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Sunil Jakhar on Saturday lambasted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre for transferring Enforcement Directorate (ED) assistant director Niranjan Singh from Jalandhar to Kolkata.
The officer investigating the high-profile Jagdish Bhola drug racket had summoned Punjab revenue minister Bikram Singh Majithia on December 26 at the ED office in Jalandhar for questioning him about his alleged links with some NRI (non-resident Indian) drug dealers. Majithia is brother of Union minister of food processiong Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who is wife of Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal.
Jakhar said the Punjab Congress would file a public-interest petition in the Punjab and Haryana high court to ensure that the ED's money laundering investigation was not scuttled under political pressure. "We would petition the court to ask a sitting judge of the high court or the Supreme Court to monitor the entire investigation, as is the practice in most high-profile investigations that have the potential of being influenced by the political parties for their vested interests," Jakhar said at a press conference here.
He said if the Akalis and the BJP could get an ED officer transferred, they could even influence a premier agency such as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), hence the monitoring by the SC or the HC judge was required. "It is complete match-fixing between the BJP and the Akalis to save Majithia, parliamentary secretary Avinash Chander, and Sarwan Singh Phillaur's son, Damanvir Singh, from the ongoing drug racket investigation in Punjab," said Jakhar.
{{/usCountry}}He said if the Akalis and the BJP could get an ED officer transferred, they could even influence a premier agency such as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), hence the monitoring by the SC or the HC judge was required. "It is complete match-fixing between the BJP and the Akalis to save Majithia, parliamentary secretary Avinash Chander, and Sarwan Singh Phillaur's son, Damanvir Singh, from the ongoing drug racket investigation in Punjab," said Jakhar.
{{/usCountry}}The Punjab CLP leader said he could apprehend this "match-fixing" even during the Maghi Mela conferences on January 14 at Fatehgarh Sahib, where Punjab BJP president Kamal Sharma had given bear hugs to SAD president and deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on the stage. "Only a few days ago, Sharma was in favour of the resignation of Majithia after the ED had summoned him for questioning," he added.
Jakhar said to him it looked as if the Akalis had promised the post of deputy CM to the BJP, "or there may be some other consideration for the saffron party to have the ED official transferred". "Anything can happen. There can be two or even three deputy CMs in Punjab when it comes to compromising on political propriety by the Akalis and the BJP," he said.