After 500 hearings spread over 10 long years, chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh and 17 others were finally cleared of all charges in the Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT) scam after a Mohali court on Friday accepted the Vigilance Bureau (VB) report giving all accused a clean chit.
The case was registered by the VB following the recommendation of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, alleging a scam in granting exemptions for the transfer of 32.1-acre land belonging to the Amritsar Improvement Trust to a private realtor.
In a brief order, Jaswinder Singh, additional district and sessions judge, special court (vigilance) pronounced: “After hearing arguments, the court is of the opinion that the second investigation has been conducted properly, and the cancellation filed the second time is accepted by the court.”
The order was pronounced in the presence of Amarinder and 15 accused. Three accused, including former Punjab assembly speaker Kewal Krishan and ministers Chaudhary Jagjit Singh and Raghunath Sahai Puri, died during the course of investigation.
“I was targeted due to political vendetta but there are so many others who suffered for 10 years, this shouldn’t have happened,” said Amarinder. He added: “This cancellation report was filed when the SAD-BJP alliance was in power and not the Congress. We have nothing to do with it. Truth has prevailed.”
His counsel, senior advocate APS Deol, said: “Our faith in judiciary stands redeemed today. Law has taken its course and truth has prevailed. It was a politically motivated case and this final order lays all controversies to rest.”
{{/usCountry}}His counsel, senior advocate APS Deol, said: “Our faith in judiciary stands redeemed today. Law has taken its course and truth has prevailed. It was a politically motivated case and this final order lays all controversies to rest.”
{{/usCountry}}It was in September 2008 that Amarinder and 17 others were booked by the VB under Sections 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc) and 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using a forged document) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code. They were also booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The challan, filed in February 2009, charged the 18 accused with involvement in the alleged scam that caused a loss of ₹360 crore to the state exchequer. However, the charges were never framed.
The VB filed a cancellation report in the special court in October 2016 after conducting investigations as directed by the high court. It also sought the discharge of all accused.