Phoolka quits active politics, party posts, but stays in AAP
Sunday, 20/09/2015
http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx
CHANDIGARH: Supreme Court senior lawyer Harvinder Singh Phoolka on Saturday quit active politics along with all his Aam Aadmi Party posts but decided to stay in the AAP.
Before resigning, he had a meeting with AAP national convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. Phoolka said his focus now would be on making the 1984 genocide in Delhi an international issue. “We’ll highlight how for the past 31 years, successive central governments have failed to get the perpetrators — Congress politicians Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar particularly — punished,” he said, adding: “I have called upon the Punjabis living in the US and Canada to assemble outside the United Nations Assembly in New York on September 25 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be addressing it.”
Punjab and Haryana high court lawyer Navkiran Singh, who also has been representing the affected families, was with Phoolka. “When the AAP won the Delhi assembly elections early this year, the Bharatiya Janata Party government at the Centre formed a special investigation team (SIT) to look into the genocide cases. Seven months on, it has failed to investigate any case,” said Phoolka, regretting that even the criminal justice system had failed the citizens of India.
“In the cases of Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler, the evidence of witnesses is being recorded. There is a conspiracy at the highest level to shield these Congress leaders. At this critical stage, these cases need my undivided attention,” said the senior lawyer.
Patiala MP and suspended AAP leader Dr Dharamvira Gandhi wasn’t convinced that Phoolka had quit only to devote time to a legal case. He has been fighting the 1984 case for long enough and doing a good job. The way he has resigned only raises questions over the functioning of the AAP, as leaders with proven credentials are either quitting or being expelled one by one,” said the MP, suggesting that the party was in disarray because of the controlfreak nature of some leaders.
