Ludhiana City Centre case: HC disposes of ex-MLA Bains, Delhi architect’s plea to join proceedings
The Punjab and Haryana high court has disposed of pleas from former MLA and Lok Insaaf Party (LIP) leader Simarjeet Singh Bains and a Delhi architect seeking permission to intervene in the Ludhiana City Centre scam case
CHANDIGARH : The Punjab and Haryana high court has disposed of pleas from former MLA and Lok Insaaf Party (LIP) leader Simarjeet Singh Bains and a Delhi architect seeking permission to intervene in the Ludhiana City Centre scam case.
The pleas were disposed of as court was told by the Punjab government that the cancellation report has been accepted in 2019 by a court and despite that the petitioners were “unnecessarily” delaying the matter. “Since the cancellation report has already been accepted and interlocutory order has been merged in final order, as such, no further orders are required to be passed in the present petition and the same is disposed of accordingly,” the bench of justice Anoop Chitkara said, giving liberty to both to challenge the final order of acceptance of cancellation report or to file a private complaint if they are aggrieved persons.
Bains and Delhi architect Sunil Kumar Dey had challenged February 3, 2018, order of a Ludhiana court whereby their applications seeking permission to join the proceedings at the time of considering the cancellation report filed by state vigilance bureau in the alleged scam was dismissed. The plea was pending in high court since 2018.
The criminal case was registered under the SAD-BJP regime in 2007. It was alleged that a private builder was favoured during Capt Amarinder Singh’s tenure as the CM. In November 2019, a Ludhiana court had discharged Amarinder and 30 others in the alleged ₹1,144 crore scam.
Touted as one of the biggest projects in the state, the city centre plan was rolled out in 2006. The complex was supposed to have shopping malls, multiplexes, apartments and a helipad. The criminal case and chargesheet was filed by the Punjab vigilance bureau during the SAD-BJP regime. Later, the vigilance bureau did a “U-turn” and in 2017 during Amarinder’s stint as the CM and filed a closure report stating that “there was no scam at all”.