Majithia says allegations are after-thoughts to malign my image
Thursday, 12/03/2015
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MINISTER DENIES COLLECTING MONEY FROM NRIS, CLAIMS NEVER VISITED CANADA FOR LAST ELEVEN YEARS
Chandigarh : Punjab Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia on Wednesday said that he was deeply affronted at the manner in which ‘wild and unsubstantiated’ allegations of ‘collecting money from Canadian NRIs’ were being levelled against him.
In a statement issued, the SAD Minister said that since the last few days, a number of allegations aimed at creating hysteria on the eve of the Vidhan Sabha Budget Session and court hearing had appeared in the media. “All these allegations, which are an afterthought, are aimed solely at maligning my image. I pity these attempts to create a cloud on my image and put me to a media trial on frivolous and contrived allegations without accountability of any person to answer such cancard against me.”
“Dropping of names and amounts do not become the basis for serious proceedings under PMLA. The authorities do not take cognizance of such dropping of names and amounts and nor does the law take cognizance of such malacious and motivated statements,” he asserted.
The Minister said that he was also pained that the newspapers did not conduct a thorough check on the allegations. “I last visited Canada eleven years back. Where is the question of collection money during frequent trips to Canada arise? Which trips are being referred to? I would like to know,” Majithia stated.
Welcoming the investigation being undertaken by the Enforcement Directorate, the Cabinet Minister said the entire case started with investigation into a Rs 6,000-crore drug racket.
“After one-and-a-half years of thorough investigation and repeated questioning of the accused, it has now boiled down to me supposedly receiving Rs 35 lakh as an election fund from one of the accused,” he quipped, while stating that even this revelation of the accused had come forth now in his fourth statement.
“No investigating agency or court takes cognizance of such afterthought self-serving statement,” he claimed.
The Minister further said while he was open to a transparent and fair investigation, he deplored the manner in which insinuations of his alleged guilt were being made to the media by interested parties. “I am pained by the fact that vested interests in an august investigating agency are briefing newsmen about my alleged complicity in drug deals when no evidence of any such complicity in my part has come to light following questioning of various accused persons. It is a fact that the august investigating agency has denied information sought under RTI about the ongoing money laundering probe of various singers. However, in my case information is being systematically leaked to coincide with repetitive sessions of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha to create hysteria,” he pointed out.
‘Maximum drug seizures in Punjab’
New Delhi: Maximum instances of drug seizures in states bordering Pakistan have been recorded in Punjab in the last three years, the Union Government informed Parliament on Wednesday. While a total of 119 cases were detected in Punjab during the years of 2012-2014, the corresponding figures for other states along Indo-Pakistan border stood at eight for Jammu and Kashmir, six in Rajasthan while no case was registered in Gujarat during the same time period.PTI
MAJITHIA SPEAKS
Rs 6,000-crore drug racket becomes mere
Rs 35-lakh election fund receipt unsubstantiated allegation
Calls for speedy conclusion of probe to end rumour mongering
