SAD nominee Jain’s shady past continues to haunt him

Saturday, 09/02/2013

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130209/punjab.htm#2

Moga : Two-time Congress MLA Joginder Pal Jain who was elected from the Moga assembly constituency in 2007 and 2012 assembly elections shocked the Congress when he resigned from the party to join the SAD two months ago.

After joining the SAD, he was not only made Chairman of the Punjab State Warehousing Corporation but was also given party ticket to contest the Moga byelection necessitated by his defection.

Sixty-seven-year-old Jain prides himself in being a down-to-earth person and not a career politician and boasts of his experience in politics. After completing his high school, he started a drug manufacturing industry. He later shut the industry and entered the real estate business.

In 1994, he joined the Congress and was made Chairman of the Moga Improvement Trust. When the Akalis came to power in 1997, he joined the BJP. The government extended his tenure as Chairman of the Improvement Trust for another term.

In 2003, Jain contested the local body elections as an Independent. He won the election and joined the Congress to be elected as President of the Moga Municipal Council. In the 2007 assembly elections, he got the Congress ticket and defeated Akali heavyweight Tota Singh. He repeated his win in the 2012 assembly elections. Jain was involved in a number of criminal cases. The opposition parties have now started raising the issue of his shady past. Despite this, Jain is confidant of winning the election.

Money laundering case: He remained in the jail for several months under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act (COFEPOSA) soon after he became MLA for the first time in 2007. A case in this regard was registered against him about three decades ago. While he was in judicial custody, another case was registered against him and four members of his family on the charges of evasion of stamp duty and flouting norms under the Punjab Apartment and Property Regulation Act, 1995.

Fake passport case: A criminal case under Sections 419 and 471 of the IPC was registered against Jain for allegedly holding a fake passport. He was held at the IGI Airport, New Delhi in 1988. He was convicted without any imprisonment. He was released on probation.

Customs Act case: A case under sections 132 and 135 (I) (A) of the Customs Act, 1962, was registered against him in the late 1980s. The court acquitted him from the charges. The Customs Department filed an appeal against his acquittal which is still pending in the Delhi High Court.

SC/ST Act case: A criminal case was registered against Jain under Sections 382, 384, 323, 336, 148, 149 of the IPC and Section 3 of the SC/ST Act at the rural police station on May 13, 2009. Later, the Punjab and Haryana High Court quashed the FIR.

Attempt to murder case: An FIR under Section 307 of the IPC was lodged against Jain and his close associate Harnek Singh Ramuwala during the panchayat elections on May 26, 2008 at the Mehna police station. Complainant Guriqbal Singh had alleged that Jain and Ramuwala had tried to kill him. Both the accused were acquitted.