Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Friday rejected Congress MP Pratap Singh Bajwa’s allegation that the Advocate-General’s office had misled the State Government and the Assembly on the sensitive and critical issue of withdrawal of the Bargari sacrilege cases from the CBI.
Capt Amarinder, in fact, dubbed Bajwa’s statement to a section of the media as a case of either ignorance or blatant mischief, and totally baseless.
He pointed out that the decision to withdraw the cases from CBI was taken by the House, on merit and was in line with the recommendations of the AG Office.
“The Government had sought the advice of the AG before introducing a resolution in the House seeking withdrawal of the cases from the central agency in the interest of Punjab,” he said while pointing out that the AG’s recommendation or report was, at no stage, presented before the House, which took an independent decision, on merit, by consensus.
Bajwa, therefore, had no knowledge or information on what the AG had recommended, he said, adding that the MP’s allegation was clearly unfounded and not based on any facts.
“The MP had evidently not bothered to even study the judgement of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana, which had upheld the legality of the state’s decision to withdraw the cases from the CBI,” said Capt Amarinder.
He added that the High Court judgment, dated January 25, 2018, had categorically upheld the legality of the action of the State in withdrawing the investigation by the State from the CBI and in fact had reposed faith in the SIT noting that the CBI had not challenged this judgment.
“Hence, no question arises now as regards the legality of the action,” said the Chief Minister, flaying Bajwa’s attempt to create mischief with his own misleading statement, clearly designed to mislead the people.
Peeved, Capt Amarinder said: “It is unfortunate that Bajwa has spoken on such a serious issue without taking into account the relevant facts and the legal position, which is clearly outlined in the High Court ruling.”
At the same time, he urged Bajwa and other leaders of all political hues to restrain themselves from misleading the people on this vital issue of state interest, and having the potential to trigger unrest.
The State Government, through the SIT constituted to investigate the sacrilege cases, was moving forward aggressively to take the matter to its logical conclusion and ensure stringent punishment for the culprits, the Chief Minister added.
“Mischievous comments like these would only hamper the interests of justice in the matter,” he warned, and exhorted the people not to be misled by such unsubstantiated statements.