Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislative members have moved a motion for an emergent discussion on the Punjab Government’s failure to take action against Congress legislators and distilleries whose complicity with the liquor mafia led to the death of 135 persons in the hooch tragedy in the one-day Vidhan Sabha session on Friday.
“The motion has been submitted to the Vidhan Sabha secretariat yesterday under rule 77 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business. It calls for holding a special debate on the entire illicit liquor trade which also led to the loss of Rs 5,600 crore in excise revenue,” said SAD legislative wing leader Sharanjit Singh Dhillon on Thursday.
He said that the motion stated that Punjabis were pained that the State Government had not taken any action against either the Congress legislators running the liquor mafia, the distilleries who supplied spirit to the mafia, as well as those running bottling plants which were used to market this poisonous brew.
“Since Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has also been found wanting in taking appropriate action against the perpetrators of this ghastly crime against humanity, it was only fitting that a larger discussion should be held to recommend an independent inquiry to nail the culprits,” said Dhillon while demanding that all case files of Rajpura and Khanna distillery seizures be handed over to the Enforcement Directorate.