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CM’s meet on SIT: Punjab govt to wait for HC order before taking any recourse
The ministers and Congress leaders present in the meeting were of the view that the government needs to wait for the high court order before deciding anything even as some of them spoke about the adverse political fallout of the quashing of the SIT probe report
Amid growing criticism from within the Congress and outside over the setback suffered in the 2015 Kotkapura case, the Punjab government plans to wait for the high court order before taking any legal or administrative recourse even as it decided to go for damage control politically.
The issue was by discussed by chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh with Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Sunil Jakhar, cabinet ministers Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Sukhjinder Randhawa and Sukhbinder Sarkaria, Mandi Board chairman Lal Singh and some MLAs, including Kushaldeep Singh Dhillon and Navtej Singh Cheema, at a meeting here on Friday.
The ministers and Congress leaders present in the meeting were of the view that the government needs to wait for the high court order before deciding anything even as some of them spoke about the adverse political fallout of the quashing of the SIT probe report.
“The government can hold legal consultations and take any decision only after the contents of the high court order are known. The grounds on which the court took the decision are still not clear. There was near consensus that we should wait for the order,” two Congress leaders, including a minister, who attended the meeting, said on condition of anonymity.
The Punjab and Haryana high court had last week quashed the probe reports submitted by the Punjab Police SIT in two FIRs registered in connection with the Kotkapura violence, directing the state government to constitute a new SIT, excluding inspector general of police (IGP) Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh. The IPS officer, who led the probe, has sought voluntary retirement since and stuck to his decision even after the chief minister turned down his request.
The legal setback in the politically-sensitive case has led to a barrage of criticism, particularly from within the Congress, over the state government’s handling of the matter. Congress MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu and Rajya Sabha MP Partap Singh Bajwa have hit out at the state government, with the former accusing it of cheating the people on its promise of delivering justice in sacrilege cases. Bajwa has demanded the advocate general Atul Nanda’s resignation.
Several other party leaders are also anxious about the political fallout and want the government to move quickly to control the damage. These concerns were mentioned by a minister at the meeting. A Congress MLA said there was no discussion on Sidhu and Bajwa. Both Amarinder and Jakhar could not be contacted.
