Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and 35 others were given a clean chit on Wednesday in a 12 years old multi-crore Ludhiana City Centre Scam.
The Court of District and Sessions Judge Gurbir Singh accepted the closure report filed by the Vigilance Bureau (VB) in the matter while observing that “no case of corruption was made out against any of the accused prima facie”.
There was no evidence against any accused, the judge ruled, adding that the former chairman of Ludhiana Improvement Trust Paramjit Singh also did not indulge in corruption though he may be accused of disobeying the orders of his senior.
The Vigilance Bureau, on August 19, 2017, had filed a closure report in the Court claiming that there was no scam at all and no proof was found against the accused after reinvestigation of the matter.
The case was filed in 2007 by the Vigilance Bureau against 36 accused, including Capt Amarinder, his son Raninder Singh, and son-in-law Raminder, for allegedly favouring a Delhi-based firm for the City Centre project. A scam worth Rs 1144 crores was allegedly surfaced.
The project was announced in 2003 by Capt Amarinder during his previous tenure as the Chief Minister. Launched in 2006, the project was to have shopping malls, multiplexes, residential apartments, among other things on 25 acres in Ludhiana.
The alleged scam had come to light in September 2006, and the then Chief Minister Capt Amarinder had marked the enquiry. The Vigilance probe had begun probe that month, but the FIR was registered on March 23, 2007, three months after the Akali-BJP alliance came to power.
The chargsheet was filed in December 2007 containing more than thousands papers with 152 witnesses.
CAPT WELCOMES DECISION AS “OUR VICTORY”
Welcoming the verdict, Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Wednesday described it as “a victory for is in our fight against what was brazenly an act of political victimization”.
Capt Amarinder, talking informally with mediapersons outside the Court soon after the judgment was pronounced, said that the truth had prevailed and their stand against the politically motivated charges had been fully vindicated.
Asserting that he and his family members accused in the case had always had full confidence in the law and unwavering faith in the judiciary, the Chief Minister said that it had taken 13 years for the victory to come but the court verdict had shown that truth always wins in the end.
“The manufactured lies presented as evidence before the Court by the petitioners had no leg to stand on, and have been totally exposed as nothing but shameless falsehoods,” he added.
Capt Amarinder, however, lamented the cost the victims had to pay in the process while they waited for their names to be cleared and their reputations to be restored. “Five of the 36 accused in the case had, in this period, gone to their graves with the stigma of being involved in the scam,” he pointed out, adding that with their names getting cleared, their families could now finally live in peace.
Incidentally, charges against all the accused were dismissed by the court on Wednesday.
WHO IS BEHIND THE SCAM, IF NOT CAPTAIN, OTHERS: AAP
Reacting sharply to the judgment, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday stated that misuse of power was at its peak in the State which reflected the Badal-Captain bonhomie.
AAP’s senior leader and Leader of Opposition Harpal Singh Cheema demanded that the Punjab Government should file an appeal against the decision in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
“The acquittal of the accused persons in the Ludhiana City Center scam has proved that the august offices of the Vigilance Bureau and the Advocate General are mere pawns in the hands of the ruling party, questioning if Captain Amarinder Singh and other accused were not behind the scam, then who is the one involved in the scam worth Rs 1144 crore?” he asked.
He said that first the Vigilance Bureau filed a case against the accused in the Ludhiana City Center scam, only to file the closure report, leaving many questions unanswered. Cheema said that the case had proved, once again, how the Badal family and Captain were protecting each other in the multi-crore scams, adding that both were hand in glove with each other.