A day after Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh defended appointment of Justice (retired) JS Narang to probe sand mining scam, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday maintained that by doing so Chief Minister was not only influencing the probe but becoming a party to the mining scandal.
“I fail to understand why Capt Amarinder is going overboard to defend Justice Narang, particularly when it has been clearly established that his son is the counsel of Rana Gurjeet Singh’s family. By coming to Justice Narang’s rescue, Capt Amarinder is blatantly influencing the course of inquiry yet to begin,” said AAP’s senior leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira.
Khaira stated in fact, Capt Amarinder had already given a clean chit to his accused Minister Rana Gurjeet Singh, by terming the mining scandal a media hype and that his Minister would come clean in the investigations.
“If the Chief Minister is so sure of his Minister’s credentials despite clear evidence against him, why did the CM order a probeIJ” asked Khaira.
Capt Amarinder had on Saturday, flayed Khaira for raising doubts about the uprightness of the judge, who was known for his fair dealings and strong sense of justice, expertise in corporate affairs and whose merit and integrity were beyond doubt.
Continuing his tirade against the government, Khaira said: “It appears that Capt Amarinder, who certified that Justice Narang is a man of impeccable integrity, probably ignored the Institute of law scandal against the family of the judge.”
Khaira maintained that as per record, Justice Narang had, in 2004, “manipulated” the Chandigarh Administration to allot eight acres of prime land to his two sons — AS Narang and RS Narang — that was challenged through a public interest litigation (PIl), and was quashed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on April 29, 2004, and subsequently by the Supreme Court too on September 22, 2014.
“These judgments are enough to demolish the certificate of integrity handed out to the media by Capt Amarinder,” said Khaira.
AAP leader pointed that there were hundreds of instances when judges have withdrawn from cases if they are even remotely known to the litigants.
“But the lawyer-client relationship between the said judge and Rana Gurjeet Singh is crystal clear. Chief Minister’s blatant efforts to shield his accused Minister and defend the tainted judge despite credible evidence points a finger of suspicion towards Capt Amarinder as if he too has a vested interest in the mining scandal,” said he.
Furthermore, the “terms of reference” notified by the government also raises a big doubt of an impartial inquiry, as the question of money trail or the source of money deposited in the accounts of Amit Bahadur and other employees of the Minister, is not part of the inquiry, he added.