Punjab: Closure report in Singla graft case triggers political storm

Opposition leaders hit out at ruling AAP government for giving ‘clean chit’ to former health minister Vijay Singla, seek probe by independent agencies, accuse govt of turning governance into theatrics

The Mohali police’s “cancellation report” in a court in connection with the corruption case related to Aam Aadmi Party’s sitting MLA and former health minister Dr Vijay Singla has triggered a politcal storm with Opposition leaders launching a blistering attack on the state government, demanding a probe by some independent agency.

Vijay Singla has been maintaining his innocence.

The case was registered after an engineer had accused Singla of demanding 1% commission in government contracts. The cancellation report was filed on June 2 in a Mohali court. The complainant, Rajinder Singh, a government engineer on deputation with the Punjab Health System Corporation, gave his consent to the report after a copy was supplied to him in the court hearing before the lunch.

“Complainant Rajinder Singh has suffered a statement to the effect that he agreed with the investigation report submitted by the investigating agency and he has no objection if the cancellation report presented by the police authorities is accepted. The complainant is duly identified by IO Satnam Singh vide his sperate statement to this effect,” reads the court order dated June 2.

According to police sources, the case was filed for closure as no evidence of corruption was found against Singla as alleged in Rajinder Singh’s complaint. “Neither the voice samples of the minister were matched in the FSL report nor any concrete evidence of corruption was found,” said an officer linked with the probe.

“No conclusive evidence was found against Singla’s OSD Pradeep Kumar as well. A chargesheet was yet to be filed against Singla. However, a challan has been filed against his OSD,” a senior police functionary associated with the case said. The matter is now reserved for a decision on July 14 by the Mohali court.

The case was flagged himself by chief minister Bhagwant Mann as on his directions, Singla and his OSD Pardeep Kumar were booked at Phase 8 police station, Mohali. While thumping the back of Mann for dismissing his own minister, AAP leaders, including party supremo Arvind Kejriwal, had hailed Mann. In a video message at that time, Mann has claimed that Singla himself admitted to accepting corruption.

The complaint had alleged that around May 2022, he was summoned to Punjab Bhawan where he met then health minister Vijay Singla and his OSD Pradeep Kumar. According to the complaint, Pradeep Kumar demanded commission —around ₹1.16 crore — on work contracts worth ₹58 crore, including ₹17 crore already paid to contractors.

The complainant had alleged that after refusing the demand, he was subjected to repeated WhatsApp calls and threats, with warnings that his career would be destroyed if he didn’t comply. According to the complaint dated May 20, 2022, he was told to pay ₹10 lakh and that future work allotments would require a 1% commission. Citing mental stress and financial limitations, he said he only managed to arrange ₹5 lakh. On May 23, he went to the civil secretariat, where he alleged that he met both Singla and his OSD again and recorded the minister directing his aide to accept the bribe.

However, this video has never appeared in public. Singla who got bail after two months was also seen active in the routine functioning of the party and the government and the filing of the chargesheet was systematically delayed in past over three years.

Recently, Singla was appointed to committees formed by the Punjab assembly. His son’s marriage was attended by all rank and file of the party from Punjab, including party president Aman Arora, and the CM’s family members. The CM did not turn up in the marriage.

Singla has always maintained his innocence. The clean chit, if accepted by the court, could potentially pave the way for his political rehabilitation. Singla, an MLA from Mansa, has shot the limelight by defeating slain Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala who was the Congress candidate in 2022 assembly polls.

The Opposition was quit to target the ruling party over the clean chit. Leader of the Opposition and senior Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa said the state government had turned the governance into a stage for theatrics. “In 2022, the CM sacked his own minister Vijay Singla, claiming he was taking commissions,” he said. Bajwa questioned the “authenticity of Mann’s intentions”.

Notably, former cabinet minister and AAP MLA from Guru Har Sahai, Fauja Singh Srari, and his PA Bachittar Singh have also been given a clean chit by the SIT that was formed to probe a suicide committed by Jashan Bawa, an AAP worker and sarpanch of Tarida village in Ferozepur.

Bajwa alleged that the incidents reflected a “dangerous trend under the AAP regime, prioritising optics over truth and drama over due process”.

Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal wrote on X, “The CM had also claimed that the minister had admitted his guilt before him. Now, it seems the party’s Delhi lobby has forced the investigating agencies to give a clean chit to Vijay Singla. This case needs to be transferred out of the state and probed by an independent agency.”

BJP’s state chief Sunil Jakhar said, “It raises doubt if the case was a mere publicity stunt or has been closed by another corruption. We should never forget that both Mann and Kejriwal had termed Singla’s arrest as an action on corruption like never before in the history. Now, Mann government should shun publicity stunts on the name of corruption as such cases against former ministers Bharat Bhushan Ashu and Sunder Sham Arora have fallen flat in courts.”