Chandigarh, May 25
In Punjab, 12 cases are pending against sitting and erstwhile MPs and MLAs, including senior Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia. This is in addition to the case against AAP’s ex-minister Dr Vijay Singla arrested by the Anti-corruption Wing of the Punjab Police on Tuesday.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court, monitoring the cases against the sitting and erstwhile parliamentarians and legislators of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, was last month told that four previously registered cases were still under investigation.
Besides this, eight “fresh cases” were under investigation. Except for one, the “fresh cases” were exclusively under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, read with the provisions of the IPC. “Investigation in these cases should be completed at the earliest. As regards the other cases also, the process of investigation be expedited,” the Bench of Justice Augustine George Masih and Justice Sandeep Moudgil had directed.
The direction came after the Bench went through an affidavit filed by Inspector-General of Police, Litigation, Punjab Bureau of Investigation. The Bench was hearing a suo motu case “In Re: Special Courts for MPs/MLAs” for monitoring the progress of matters pending against the MP/MLAs.
Fixing the case for further hearing on July 19, the Bench directed: “The latest status report with regard to not only the cases under investigation, but trials also, be submitted by the respondents in a tabulated form a week prior to the next date of hearing with a copy in advance to the amicus curiae”.
An affidavit carrying the details of cases was placed before the Division Bench in January also. The affidavit by Punjab Inspector-General of Police, Bureau of Investigation, Gursharan Singh Sandhu, then said the cases were pending against MLAs Pawan Kumar Tinu, Gurpartap Singh Wadala, Baldev Singh Khehra, Balwinder Singh Bains and Simarjit Singh Bains, besides ex-MLAs Anil Joshi, Malkeet Singh AR, Ajit Singh Kohar and Virsa Singh Valtoha.
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