New Delhi, May 22
Taking into consideration the strong objections raised by the Punjab government on the Delhi High Court’s jurisdiction in entertaining the Ludhiana City Centre scam, the Supreme Court has dismissed a set of petitions filed before it by the Capital-based companies Today Homes, Today Hotels and their top executives, main accused in the case.

Questioning the Delhi High Court’s jurisdiction in entertaining the petitions of the two companies and their four executives and restraining the Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) from taking any “coercive step” against them, the apex court vacated the impugned directions in this regard.

The order was passed by a Bench of Justices S.B. Sinha and Markandey Kathu last week while disposing of a special leave petition (SLP) of the Punjab government challenging such directives issued by the Delhi High Court without jurisdiction.

Sensing an adverse order on the Punjab government’s SLP, a battery of senior advocates appearing for Today Homes and Today Hotels proposed to withdraw their petitions from the Delhi High Court and told the apex court that they intended to move the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which is the court of competent jurisdiction.

While declaring the petitions of the two companies and their executives before the Delhi High Court as “dismissed as withdrawn”, the apex court, however, gave them liberty to move any application before the court of competent jurisdiction.

Punjab’s additional advocate general (AAG) K.K. Khurana told the Tribune that the state government in its counter affidavit had made it clear before the apex court that the Delhi High Court’s entertaining the petitions by the companies and passing ex-parte interim orders restraining the VB from taking “coercive” action against the accused persons had virtually “stalled the investigation” in the case.

The stand of the Punjab government was that on the basis of the Delhi High Court’s orders of March 28 and April 3, the other accused, including former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and former minister Jagjit Singh, were able to obtain anticipatory bails from the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The offer to withdraw the petition from the Delhi High Court by Today Homes and Today Hotels and moving the Punjab and Haryana High Court after getting a substantial relief “is apparently an attempt to avoid any adverse observation/ remarks from this apex court,” the Punjab Government’s affidavit, appended by VB’s flying squad SP Surinderjit Singh Mand, had said.

“The investigation was seriously prejudiced by the impugned ex-parte interim orders as the same have not only resulted in stalling the investigation against the respondents but at the same time have also been misused by the other co-accused, who have relied upon the impugned orders and obtained similar relief from other courts,” the government’s affidavit said.

Though the government wanted detailed hearing of its SLP to decide the legal question whether an accused could take the liberty to use the judicial process to his advantage, but the apex court said that no purpose would be served by continuing the case before it once the petitioners before the Delhi High Court had offered to withdraw their petitions and offered to move the Punjab and Haryana High Court.