Despite being “not in good health” Akali patriarch and Punjab’s former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal will appear before the Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing the 2015 Kotkapura police firing incident, on Tuesday.
Sharing the information, the principal adviser to Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Badal, Harcharan Bains, stated that the former Chief Minister wanted to “fulfil his legal and constitutional duties as a law-abiding citizen of the country”.
“Five-time Punjab CM Sardar Parkash Singh Badal will appear before the SIT at his official MLA flat at Sector 4 in Chandigarh at 10.30 am on June 22. Still not in good health, Badal, however, is keen to fulfil his legal and constitutional duties as a law-abiding citizen of the country,” he tweeted.
Earlier, the Punjab Police SIT had summoned the Akali Dal stalwart for investigation in Mohali on June 16. But Badal sought from the SIT to change the date of his appearance, saying that he was not keeping good health. Later, the SIT rescheduled the date for his appearance.
Badal was the Chief Minister when incidents of the desecration of religious text and police firing at people protesting against it took place in Faridkot in 2015.
Punjab government had formed the new SIT, led by Additional Director General of Police LK Yadav, to probe the Kotkapura police firing incident following the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
The new SIT is investigating the two FIRs registered on October 14, 2015, and August 7, 2018, in connection with the Kotkapura incident.
The High Court had on April 9 this year quashed a report by an earlier Punjab Police SIT, with the directions to the State Government to set up a new SIT without Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, an Indian Police Service officer who was part of the earlier team. Kunwar Vijay took voluntary retirement after the court order.
The previous SIT had questioned Parkash Singh Badal in 2018. At that time, Badal had said that the SIT was “politically motivated” to defame him.
The new SIT has already questioned former DGP Sumedh Saini and some other police officers.