Capt Amarinder Singh orders probe into scholarship scam

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 29

Making it clear that nobody found guilty of complicity in the alleged scholarship scam would be spared, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh today asked the Chief Secretary to conduct a thorough inquiry into the case.

Sack minister: AAP

Reiterating his demand for immediate dismissal of Cabinet Minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, AAP state president Bhagwant Mann said if the ruling Congress did not sack the minister, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi would have to give an explanation on the issue during the monsoon session of Parliament.

Rs 959 cr fraud: BJP

The BJP claimed the scholarship scam, said to be of Rs55 crore, was in fact not less than Rs959 crore. Meanwhile, Union Food Processing Industries Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Saturday requested Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot to recommend a CBI inquiry into the scam.

Dharamsot deserves fair probe

Nobody can be put on the mat without a fair investigation, which Cabinet Minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot also deserves. There is a rule of law which needs to be followed. - Capt Amarinder Singh, CM

“Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan will look into all aspects of the case, and anyone found involved, whatever his position within or outside the government, will be penalised and punished in accordance with the legal provisions,” said the Chief Minister. Law will take its course, he added.

Capt Amarinder said nobody could be put on the mat without a fair probe and proper inquiry, which Cabinet Minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot also deserved. “There is a rule of law, which needs to be followed,” said the Chief Minister, adding that he would not succumb to Opposition trial in the case.

However, there was no question of protecting or shielding anyone, and action under the law would be taken against anyone found guilty of any involvement in the case, he added.

The Chief Minister also lashed out at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for behaving like a rogue party by baying for Dharamsot’s blood without a proper inquiry.

“Are we living in a state of anarchy, with no rule of law?” Capt Amarinder asked, reacting strongly to the “completely unwarranted and uncalled demand” of AAP and Lok Insaaf Party (LIP) MLAs, who had yesterday created a din in the Vidhan Sabha over the issue.

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