HC notice to Punjab on Simarjit Bains’ plea on Ludhiana city centre case

Saurabh Malik
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, December 15

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Saturday put Punjab on notice on a petition filed by Lok Insaaf Party MLA Simarjit Singh Bains for permission to intervene in the Ludhiana city centre case.

The petition was filed nearly 11 months after a court in Ludhiana had rejected Bains’s plea to be party in the case.

The vigilance bureau, on August 19, 2017, had filed a closure report before the court concerned claiming that there was no scam at all and that no proof was found against Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, his son Raninder Singh and others following ‘re-investigation’.

The petitioner had moved the court after the special court in Ludhiana, on October 25, permitted the Enforcement Directorate to inspect the case file.

Taking up the plea, Justice Inderjit Singh also fixed January 23 as the next date of hearing.

MLA Bains had filed an application in the court challenging the closure report filed by the vigilance bureau in the case last year. Bains had sought permission to join the proceedings in the case claiming that “since it is a corruption case, he has the right to challenge the closure report”. In his petition before the High Court, Bains sought directions for setting aside the Ludhiana court order.

The High Court has already ordered continuation of stay on the operation of an order passed by the Ludhiana Special Judge on October 25 permitting the Enforcement Directorate to inspect the court file in the Ludhiana City Centre case.

The developments had taken place on a petition filed by Delhi-based Chetan Gupta, who had moved the High Court demanding a stay on the ED inspection, among other things.

The counsel for the petitioners argued that the ED was not a party in the case and could not be allowed to inspect the case file. The case was between the Punjab vigilance bureau and the accused.