EC order biased, will seek review of IG’s transfer: CM
Wednesday, 10/04/2019
http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx
CHANDIGARH: Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday said the state government has decided to approach the Election Commission of India (ECI) seeking review of its decision to relieve inspector general of police (IGP) Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh as a member of the special investigation team (SIT) that is probing the 2015 police firing cases.
Calling it a biased order, which was issued in response to a complaint by an Akali leader, Amarinder said it is tantamount to direct interference in the investigations into the firing incidents and that he has decided to ask the EC to reconsider the matter in the “interest of justice and constitutional propriety”.
The Akalis have been trying unsuccessfully to scuttle the investigations into the sacrilege and police firing incidents that took place during their tenure and are now resorting to desperate measures to save their skin, a government spokesman quoted the CM.
Amarinder, the spokesman said, is of the strong opinion that the EC is acting in a highly biased manner at the behest of the ruling BJP at the Centre which is making a desperate bid to save itself and its allies. The Akalis in Punjab are facing another defeat and the BJP is trying to save it, he said, adding the nexus between the saffron party and EC was manifest in the latter’s recent orders that were clearly skewed against the Congress.
“The SIT, of which the IG was a key member and instrumental in aggressive investigations, was to bring the culprits to the book and take the probe in the 2015 case to its logical conclusion. It has been carrying out its investigations as per the directions of the Punjab and Haryana high court which in its January 25
order had even declined to transfer the probe to the CBI. The investigations undertaken by the SIT were of the nature of a statutory requirement under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), in which even courts do not interfere. The EC is simply not authorised to interfere in such a matter,” he added.
Amarinder urged the EC not to allow its integrity to be compromised in such manner by the vested interests of the ruling BJP and its allies.Punjab Congress president
Sunil Jakhar too lashed out at the EC saying its role and integrity has come under a cloud. “The people of Punjab know who is guilty. The Akalis are trying to delay the probe but they cannot stop the inevitable. The truth will come out. An upright officer is being subjected to petty politics while Niti Aayog vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar was let off the hook for violating the poll code. There is nothing incriminating in what Kunwar said. The EC has dented its creditability,” Jakhar said.
