Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
* Reiterates demand for a CBI probe
Chandigarh, The Punjab Congress President Mr Partap Singh Bajwa today demanded resignation of the Revenue Minister Mr Bikram Singh Majithia for having been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate to appear on December 26 in the drug smuggling racket which had rocked the state months back.
In a statement, Mr Bajwa reminded Mr Majithia that earlier, the then Jails Minister Mr Sarwan Singh Phillaur had resigned in the same case when the name of his son had surfaced. Now it was Mr Majithia who had been summoned and he must resign and appear before the investigators to pave the way for transparent investigation.
He alleged that Mr Majithia had to be finally summoned as there was no other way out as the ruling first family in the state was out to scuttle the investigations. It was for this reason that he had been demanding CBI inquiry which the state government had been opposing. He asserted his stand had now been vindicated that the powerful people whose names had surfaced in the multi-crore drug racket must be investigated thoroughly by an independent agency and not Punjab police.
He further said that the Enforcement Directorate has jurisdiction only with regard to violations and offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act whereas the allegations against Bikramjit Singh Majithia are of aiding, abetting and facilitating the multi-thousand crore drug racket for which the provisions of the NDPS Act, 1985 would squarely apply. This belated attempt to summon Bikramjit Singh Majithia by the Enforcement Directorate is an attempt to shield him from the stringent provisions under the NDPS Act. S. Bikramjit Singh Majithia ought be prosecuted under the provisions of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS Act) for aiding, abetting and facilitating the drug racket in India. The SAD-BJP Government both at the Centre and the State is treating Majithia with kid gloves.
He said that as long as Bikramjit Singh Majithia continues to be a Minister no free or independent probe can be expected given the enormous political clout that he enjoys within the State apparatus as being the brother in law of the Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab and the brother of the Union Cabinet Minister.
The present probe example is a classic example of dissecting the investigation probe between the ED, Punjab Police and other agencies so that a foolproof or watertight case is not prepared against the traffickers and their patronizers enabling them to take advantage of this major lacuna under the investigation process.
- Bajwa said that it is of utmost importance that a comprehensive probe is ordered which investigates all dimensions of the drug racket case instead of multiple agencies pulling in different directions. For eg. The ED has now summoned Bikramjit Singh Majithia whereas the consistent stand of the Punjab Police is that Bikramjit Majithia is innocent. This reflects how political pressure is scuttling a free and fair probe process.
- Bajwa apprehended that as long as Bikramjit Singh Majithia continues to be a Minister, any probe would simply be an eye wash or a cover up exercise to protect and shield the king – pin of this muti-thousand crores drug racket case that is ruining the future of the State of Punjab. Furthermore, the Enforcement Directorate is under the administrative control of the Department of Revenue that comes under the Finance Ministry, therefore every attempt is being made to subvert the probe process and reduce a sensitive case of this nature to a cover up exercise.
The PPCC President said that it is imperative that the Union Government constitutes a Judicial inquiry headed by a sitting Judge of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India under the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1956 to inquire into all allegations emanating from this matter given the public interest involved or refers the matter to the CBI for a through probe since this case has strong international ramifications wherein some of the accused persons are important elements of the international drug syndicate such as Satpreet Singh alias Satta, Parminder Singh Pindi, Amarinder Singh Laddi who are all Canadian nationals apart from other accused persons like Jagit Singh Chahal and Bittu Aulakh. Given this factual situation it was important that the CBI ought to have investigated this case as it is the designated nodal agency to co-ordinate with the Interpol and other foreign law enforcement agencies. Moreover serious allegations have made against the brother of a cabinet Colleague of the Prime Minister, which make it necessary, that the investigation process inspires credibility and confidence.
The issue involved is not political and nor any political motives should be attached in this case. The problem of drug menace has assumed very alarming social proportions. Now even the Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi has to take its cognisance. It was the Congress Vice-president Mr Rahul Gandhi who had first raised the issue but the Chief Minister Mr Parkash Singh Badal and the Deputy Chief Minister Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal had dubbed his statement as political. It is because of this stand taken by the Badals that Mr Majitha, who is brother-in-law of Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal, must resign”, he said.
Mr Bajwa said every village in the state had been affected by the drug menace and the supply of such large quantities of drugs was not possible without political patronage. The Badals had been blaming smuggling from across the border conveniently overlooking the fact that the drugs being consumed in the state were mainly synthetic. The drug being smuggled from across the border was mainly heroine going by the seizures made by the Border Security Force. The former cop turned drug lord who had given out Mr Majithia’s name had been arrested for the smuggling of synthetic drugs which were being produced here. He alleged that Badals were only trying to misdirect investigations by talking of smuggling from across the border.
