In a more trouble to Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a case against his son-in-law, Gurpal Singh, in connection with an alleged bank fraud case against Simbhaoli Sugars limited.
Chief Minister, at the same time, flayed the attempts to politicise the matter saying that his son-in-law is a minority shareholder with a mere 12.5 percent share in Sambhauli Sugars, and was being unnecessarily dragged into the controversy.
Simbhaoli Sugars limited is one of the largest sugar mills in the country.
The Oriental Bank of Commerce had complained to the CBI on November 17, 2017, but the agency registered the case on February 22 this year.
A probe has been launched in two loans — Rs97.85 crore, which was declared fraud in 2015 and another corporate loan of Rs110 crore, which was used to repay the previous loan.
Besides, Gurpal Singh, the CBI has booked 12 others including Simbhaoli Sugars’ chairman Gurmit Singh Mann, CEO GSC Rao, CFO Sanjay Tapriya, executive director Gursimran Kaur Mann and other company officials along with some unknown bank officials.
Union Minister and Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal has hit out at the Chief Minister and the Congress, saying, “What do you expect from a Chief Minister who himself is embroiled in having black money abroadIJ The whole family is embroiled in scams. It isn’t surprising. Its old habit of Congress”.
Flaying the opposition, the Chief Minister said that as per information available with him, the alleged fraud, which was at the centre of the case, had been the subject matter of court proceedings before the DRT in a recovery suit filed by the Bank, which was settled between the company and OBC, and was recorded by DRT lucknow by way of a consent order dated March 16, 2015.
Further, the Chief Minister said that he had been told that Gurpal Singh, who was a law-abiding citizen, had even refused to sign any documents to give any personal guarantee against the loan in question, forcing OBC to amend the loan document on February 12, 2015, thus waiving off the requirement of Gurpal Singh’s signature on any guarantee documents.
Political parties, including the BJP, were targeting Gurpal Singh only because of the OBC director’s personal relationship with him, said Capt Amarinder, lambasting them for making baseless allegations without bothering to verify the facts, only to secure political mileage.
The fact was that Gurpal had actually been litigating against Sambhauli Sugars, for his rights as Director and shareholder, before the National Company law Tribunal, as he had been kept out of all major decisions and the working of the company, which was reportedly a matter of court record, said the Chief Minister, citing information received.
In the circumstances, and given these facts, the political attack on his son-in-law was ludicrous, said the Chief Minister, adding that even a cursory check of the case background would have revealed that Gurpal had no role in the entire affair.
It was evident that the issue was being deliberately sought to be politicised, with the farming community also being unnecessarily dragged into the whole affair, said Capt Amarinder. Pointing out that the farming community in the country was already a highly beleaguered lot, the Chief Minister condemned any attempt to pull them into the case for political gains.
All the vital and true facts would emerge before the judicial courts when the CBI case is taken up by them, said the Chief Minister, urging the political parties and the media to stop indulging in baseless statements and reporting.