Will recover Rs 55L spent on Mukhtar Ansari from Capt Amarinder, Sukhjinder Randhawa: Bhagwant Mann

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 2

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann today said the state government would not pay Rs 55 lakh spent on “cosy stay” of gangster-turned politician Mukhtar Ansari in Rupnagar jail during the Congress government.

He said, “The state government will recover this money from former CM Capt Amarinder Singh and ex-Deputy CM Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa.”

Besides, the government had incurred expenditure on arguing Ansari’s case in the Supreme Court, he said.

Earlier, Mann had pointed out that Ansari was lodged in the Rupnagar jail from January 2019 to April 2021, and he wasn’t presented before the courts in Uttar Pradesh despite warrants.

Govt facilities to be withdrawn

In case of non-payment, money will be recovered from their pension and the facilities provided to them by the government will be withdrawn. The special facilities were provided to Mukhtar Ansari as he was a close friend of the Congress leaders. —Bhagwant Mann, cm

Followed due process

Mukhtar Ansari was brought to Punjab and detained under the due process of law. Where does the CM, or for that matter, the former Jail Minister come into the picture? Mann should gain experience before making such ignorant statements. —Capt Amarinder Singh, Former CM

Mann tweeted, “The amount will be recovered from former CM Capt Amarinder Singh, who also held the charge of the Home Minister as well as from then Jail Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa.”

“In case of non-payment, money will be recovered from their pension and the facilities provided to them by the government will be withdrawn,” he wrote in a tweet.

The special facilities were provided to Ansari as he was a close friend of the Congress leaders, Mann pointed out.

He said, “Capt Amarinder and Randhawa extended largesse to the gangster for his comfortable stay in jails of Punjab. Why should the state waste taxpayers’ money?”

Senior BJP leader and former CM Capt Amarinder ridiculed CM Mann and said he should learn the process of law before issuing such statements.

He said, “I was a CM for nine-and-a-half years, while Mann has not completed one-and-a-half year. He should gain experience before making such ignorant statements about the process of governance.”

He said, “Mukhtar Ansari was brought to Punjab and detained under the due process of law. Where does the CM or for that matter the former Jail Minister come into the picture?” he asked.

In June 2022, former Jail Minister Harjot Singh Bains had alleged Ansari was kept in the Rupnagar jail for two years and three months after a “fake” FIR was lodged against him.

Bains had claimed that even Ansari’s wife stayed with him and he was given a VIP treatment. Bains had stated that the Uttar Pradesh Government had to move the Supreme Court to get Ansari’s custody and the Congress had engaged senior lawyers to represent him.

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