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Bhullar shifted after taking NOC from Centre: Badal
Describing the uproar over the shifting of 1993 Delhi bomb blast convict Devinderpal Singh Bhullar from Tihar Central Jail to Amritsar as uncalled for, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal has said that his government had procured a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Centre before going ahead with the move. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in the state, including president Kamal Sharma, have been claiming that they were consulted on the issue.
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Describing the uproar over the shifting of 1993 Delhi bomb blast convict Devinderpal Singh Bhullar from Tihar Central Jail to Amritsar as uncalled for, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal has said that his government had procured a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Centre before going ahead with the move. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in the state, including president Kamal Sharma, have been claiming that they were consulted on the issue.
"The decision (to shift Bhullar) was taken as his family repeatedly approached the governments of Punjab, Delhi and even the Centre pleading for release on the grounds of ill-health. Bhullar's death sentence was also commuted on health grounds. We shifted him after taking NOCs from the Delhi government and the Central government," said Badal, in town to hold Sangat Darshan programmes in Phagwara assembly segment on Sunday.
The CM also claimed that the shifting of the convicted militant was not any threat to the state's peace.
"Oh di te bechare di sehat hi badi kharab rehndi hai..Je ethe baitha rahu taan koi ni …je Delhi baitha tan koi ni….Tusin dasso ki aide naal kiwen militancy vad jau (Bhullar does not keep well. How does it matter, if he sits in a Punjab jail or in Delhi. Can you explain how this will revive militancy in the state," he said, when queried on the BJP's opposition to the shifting.
On whether he had discussed the issue with state leaders in the BJP, Badal said they were intelligent enough to understand this.
"Everybody should understand that I take only those steps that ensure peace and harmony in the state. If some people do not get it, what can I do," said Badal.
On the affidavit which the SAD-BJP government submitted in the Supreme Court, stating that the shifting of Bhullar would be a threat to peace in Punjab, he said, "Thoda sayane bano…tusin dasso Bhullar di shifting naal ki ho jau…Kade time koi hor hunda hai te kade hor…Bajwa nu jo kenda kehan deyo. (Be wise. Let me what wrong will happen due to the shifting. Situation changes…let Bajwa (Punjab Congress chief) say what he wants," the CM said.
