The forthcoming Budget session of the Punjab Assembly that begins on Thursday is expected to be a noisy affair as the opposition Congress has decided to move censure and privileges’ motion against State Revenue and Public RelationsMminister Bikram Singh Majithia for misleading the Assembly by making a false statement, on the floor of the House, regarding his being summoned by the Enforcement Directorate that is probing the money laundering in the sensational synthetic drugs case.
This was disclosed by the Leader of the Opposition, Sunil Jakhar, who while talking to reporters on Wednesday said that in light of new evidence emerging out of the charge sheet filed by the ED, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal should sack him in case Mr. Majithia did not resign. He was referring to reports quoting an affidavit by one of the accused in the case Jagjit Singh Chahal that Mr Majithia had received Rs. 35 lakh him. Mr. Chahal who owns a pharmaceutical unit from which some precursor chemicals were recovered, is reported to have given a signed statement to the ED that at least three NRIs, Satpreet Singh alias Satta, Parminder Singh Pindi and Amaninder Singh alias Laali, who were allegedly formed the international channel of the drug trade were also in touch with the Minister.
Mr. Jakhar said that during the last session of the Assembly, when the Congress had moved a no-confidence motion on the issue, Mr. Majithia had claimed that the ED had questioned him in his capacity as a witness only. However, the latest disclosures indicated that Mr Majithia was co-accused in the case and the ED was still probing his properties, he said adding that this amounted to misleading the House and invited proceedings under the breach of privileges.
A major test
The Congress felt that issue was a major test for Mr. Badal who had to let the people know whether his writ ran the government or it was his son, the Deputy Chief Minister, Sukhbir Singh who ran the show. Mr Majithia is the younger brother of the Union Minister for Food Processing, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who is married to Mr. Sukhbir Singh. Mr Jakhar said that unlike the last session of the House, it was time that the BJP, which was in alliance with the ruling Akali Dal, came clean on the issue. He said that the BJP minister, Anil Joshi, who had been boycotting Cabinet meetings and is expected to stay away from the Budget session, should come forth. On the eve of the recent civic polls, Mr Joshi had accused Mr Majithia of protecting Akali leaders and workers who had carried out a murderous attack against his younger brother in Tarn Taran.
Mr. Jakhar reiterated the demand of the Congress that the investigations in the case should be handed over to an independent agency under judicial supervision of the Supreme Court or a sitting judge of the High Court. He said that with the attempts to shift the concerned officer, the integrity of the investigations appeared compromised.
Reacting to statements by Mr Majithia about a conspiracy by the opposition to ruin his political career by maligning his public image, Mr Jakhar said that the leaks were being carried out by
somebody in the establishment who was aware of the company that the minister kept and the dealing he conducted with them as well as was privy to the details of the investigation so far. He was surprised at the verbal orders by Mr Sukhbir Singh, who is also the Home Minister, asking he Punjab Police chief, to inquire how Mr. Majithia’s name came to be associated with the scandal.
