The Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government on Monday issued a show-cause notice to former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh and Congress leader Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa for recovery of the money spent during the previous Congress government on keeping Uttar Pradesh gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari in a Punjab jail.
The jails department issued the notice to Amarinder and Randhawa asking them to show cause within 15 days why the amount spent on engaging a senior advocate of the Supreme Court to oppose the transfer of Ansari from Punjab to Uttar Pradesh where he was an accused in several cases, should not be recovered from them. Amarinder, who is now in BJP, was the chief minister of Punjab, whereas Randhawa was the jails minister at that time.
The notice followed a war of words between Randhawa and the AAP government triggered by chief minister Bhagwant Mann’s tweet on Sunday that his government will recover ₹55 lakh incurred by the previous Congress government on legal fees for keeping the gangster-turned-politician from Uttar Pradesh in the state jail. Randhawa had disputed the amount quoted by the chief minister and denied any role. After receiving the notice, the Congress leader posted it on Twitter, accusing Mann of again backtracking from his claims. “…the notice now served is of ₹17.60 lakh as against 55 lakh lakh. Since I don’t play Twitter-Twitter, I will take the legal recourse and drag you down from your high horse,” Randhawa tweeted.
According to the show-cause notice, Ansari, who was confined in Banda Jail in UP as an accused in a number of heinous crimes, succeeded in getting registered a concocted FIR No. 5 of 2019 u/s 386, 506 IPC at Police Station Mataur, district SAS Nagar, against him. After the registration of FIR, he was brought to Punjab on production warrant and was sent to District Jail Ropar on January 24, 2019, and stayed there till April 6, 2021, it read.
{{/usCountry}}According to the show-cause notice, Ansari, who was confined in Banda Jail in UP as an accused in a number of heinous crimes, succeeded in getting registered a concocted FIR No. 5 of 2019 u/s 386, 506 IPC at Police Station Mataur, district SAS Nagar, against him. After the registration of FIR, he was brought to Punjab on production warrant and was sent to District Jail Ropar on January 24, 2019, and stayed there till April 6, 2021, it read.
{{/usCountry}}The notice said that the state of Uttar Pradesh filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court for transfer of Ansari back to the state (from Punjab). It also said the case filed against Ansari in Punjab was not so important that transfer application by UP should have been defended by Punjab by engaging a senior advocate and paying hefty fees. “Despite this, both of you engaged a senior advocate to oppose the transfer of Ansari even though no public interest or interest of the state of Punjab was involved,” it added. The advocate raised bills amounting to ₹55 lakh and an amount of ₹17.60 lakh was payable to him as per the instructions issued by the department of home affairs and justice.
The jails department also said the amount liable to be paid to the senior advocate should be recovered equally from Amarinder and Randhawa as they proposed and approved respectively to engage him as an advocate for this case. On Sunday, Capt Amarinder had ridiculed the CM’s statement that his government will recover the money paid to Supreme Court lawyers in connection with the detention of Mukhtar Ansari in Punjab. Meanwhile, Mann on Monday also released a letter written by Randhawa to Amarinder on April 1, 2021 and stated that it showed both leaders were well aware of the entire episode. “Surprisingly, both these leaders are now feigning ignorance about the issue and are trying to mislead the people,” he claimed.