Badal, Sukhbir sent to Patiala jail

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http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20031202/main1.htm

Badal, Sukhbir sent to Patiala jail

Ropar Special Judge orders judicial remand till December 13

Saurabh Malik

Tribune News Service

Punjab’s former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, his son Sukhbir Singh Badal, Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra and Capt Kanwaljit Singh, surrounded by supporters, come out of Ropar Court after father and son were remanded in judicial custody in Ropar on Monday.

— Tribune photo by Manoj Mahajan

Akali workers face a lathicharge at Ropar by the Punjab police. — A Tribune photograph

Ropar, December 1

Declining the prayer for interim bail in an alleged corruption case, Ropar’s Special Judge today created history by remanding Punjab’s former Chief Minister-cum-Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Parkash Singh Badal and his Member of Parliament son Sukhbir Badal in judicial custody till December 13. Never before has a former Chief Minister of the state been sent to jail even for a day.

The Judge also fixed December 3 as the date of hearing on their application for regular bail. The court further issued fresh notice to Mrs Surinder Kaur Badal for December 13. She was not present in the court as she had not b

een served notice. The former Chief Minister, meanwhile, turned down his counsel’s suggestion to move an application for getting himself admitted in hospital on medical grounds.

As soon as Special Judge for corruption cases S.K. Goel pronounced the order in an open court at about 2.45 pm, at least a thousand Akali supporters, camping around the court complex since morning, converged in. The baton-yielding cops, clutching protective shields, could pose little resistance as they pushed their way through the jostling crowd of journalists towards the main gate.

The blaring sirens and wild honking were drowned in the din as the aggressive workers raised slogans against the Congress government and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.

Ignoring the police personnel trying to take control of the situation, they surrounded the white Ambassador car in which the Badals, escorted by Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) President Gurcharan Singh Tohra, were to leave for Central Jail in Patiala after being remanded.

Anger was writ large on their faces even as senior Akali leaders, including Captain Kanwaljit Singh, tried to pacify them.

The order, meanwhile, failed to shake the Badals, at least visibly. Soon after the Judge read out the directions, Mr Sukhbir Badal — with a saffron siropa around his neck — picked up a mobile phone to utter “dismissed” before smiling back at the advocates around him.

“We would have listened to some nice songs had Mr Daler Mehndi been in”, he laughed. Later, he said,: “The Chief Minister, by creating such a situation, is simply trying to save his seat”.

The former Chief Minister, meanwhile, took a little time to, perhaps, comprehend the situation. But then he too laughed before answering questions. “Throughout my life I have not kept track of two things...,” he quipped. “I do not know my date of birth and I have never counted the number of times I have been to jail in public interest”.

<

br>Cleaning the glasses of his spectacles, senior Mr Badal, clad in a blue long coat with matching turban, added: “And I have never worn a watch.” As far as Mr Sukhbir Badal’s remand was concerned, he said lightly, “I have been to jail, now he too will be accompanying me. The licence is being renewed. He will also be getting a certificate”.

Regarding party’s control in his absence, he said, “The party work will go on. It never stops. I am sure it will be taken care of.” Commenting on the court directions, he asserted, “We have full faith in the judiciary and we know we will get justice from the courts”.

On the move to stop the supporters from reaching Ropar in the morning, he said, “We condemn the act in the strongest words. They had been told to protest peacefully and that’s what they were doing. The government, by blocking the roads, have taken away the right to peaceful protest from us”.

For the Chief Minister, the order was, perhaps, a battle won. All along he had been saying that the Badals would not be arrested during the investigation by the police, and they would wait for the court orders.

The directions, on the other hand, provided the Akalis an opportunity to display their strength, potential and unity. Throughout the day, Mr Tohra remained next to Mr Badal. In fact, he sat with senior Mr Badal on the rear seat, while Mr Sukhbir Badal made himself comfortable on the front seat, in the car before leaving for Patiala jail where the father and son were to be lodged. The BJP leaders, along with Akali leaders, too addressed a gathering outside the court complex.

Also present at Ropar were SGPC’s former President Kirpal Singh Badhungar, senior Akali leader Prof Prem Singh Chandumajra and Chandigarh’s former Mayor Harjinder Kaur.

Earlier during the proceedings, the Badals, accompanied by their counsel, appeared before the Judge at about 10.30 am and applied for regular bail as suggested by the Political Affairs Committee.

Seeking the grant of bail, they subm

itted that the first information report (FIR) in the matter had been lodged “on the basis of a totally false, vague and motivated complaint procured at the instance of the Chief Minister from Mansa district resident Balwant Singh”. He had been “duly rewarded for signing the complaint with the Directorship of the Punjab State Land Development Corporation”.

In the application, his counsel added, “The mala fides of the Chief Minister and the Punjab Vigilance Bureau are further apparent from the fact that no preliminary inquiry of any kind, as mandated by the Supreme Court, was made into the allegations. The FIR was lodged in a tearing hurry”.

Giving details, they added, “Persons arrested by the Vigilance Bureau, including a relative, associates and a number of SAD ministers were tortured and pressurised to implicate the applicant and his family”.

Arguing before the court, they added that only the courts at Chandigarh had the jurisdiction to try the offences referred to in the FIR. The court here was debarred from taking cognizance of the case due to “absence of proper sanction for prosecution”.

Moreover, “the alleged disproportionate assets shown by the prosecution were patently false and were duly accounted for in the income tax and wealth tax returns”. The applicants, counsel added, were not required for interrogation or investigation as the chargesheet had already been filed. The applicants were not arrested throughout the investigation. Now, they had willingly come to court, but still their remand was being sought to satisfy the Chief Minister’s ego.

The lawyers accompanying the Badals included Punjab’s former Advocate-General Hardev Singh Mattewal, former Additional Advocate-General Gurminder Singh and senior advocate Baldev Singh. The application on behalf of senior Mr Badal was filed by Mr Gurminder Singh and advocate Sant Pal Singh Sidhu. Mr Sukhbir Badal’s application was filed by Vikram Chaudhary and former DAG H.S. Sidhu. Advocate N.S. Minhas was also accompanying the la

wyers.

The prosecution, on the other hand, sought time to argue following which the Court fixed December 3 as the next date of hearing. Badals’ counsel then sought interim bail. Taking up the prayer, the court reserved order till after lunch. The verdict was, subsequently, pronounced at about 2.45 pm.

Soon after the Badals were remanded in judicial custody, their counsel moved an application for retaining the security cover provided to him. The Public Prosecutor stated that the cover by the National Security Guards (NSG) would continue till they reached Patiala.

Disposing of the application, the Judge directed that the applicants should be given security as per the rules and the public prosecutor’s statement, following which the Badals were allowed to leave for Patiala in their car amidst heavy security.

[>Bikramjit Singh<]

Waheguroo Jee Ka Khalsa!

Waheguroo Jee Kee Fateh!!

It's all Waheguru's justice at the end of the day. We reap what we sow. My main grouse against Badal apart from all the corruption that he and his family indulged in is the fact that he refused to prosecute the police officers responsible for the torture and murder of the former Akal Takht Jathedar Bhai Gurdev Singh Koanke. The investigation report sat on his desk for years and he refused to take action against the police officers named in the report. Now he'll know just a fraction of what Bhai Gurdev Singh had to undergo.

GurFateh

Bikramjit

[Gill]

i feel people like gurcharan tohra need to be killed, but i heard that during the 80's badal let sikhs(freedom fighters) wanted by the police stay at his home.

could some one correct me if i m wrong.

[Guest mehtab]

Badal and his son talking in jail

"Should we convey our thanks to Captain Sa’ab for keeping us alive?"

---taken from www.tribuneindia.com

[Guest mehtab]

@

Badal, Sukhbir get bail

Lalit Mohan

Ropar, December 9

After deliberating over the facts for about four hours in a closed room the Special Judge, Ropar, Mr S.K. Goel, granted bail both to former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son Sukhbir Singh Badal against a personal bail bond of Rs 20 lakh and a surety of like amount in each case. The bail was granted on the condition that the accused should not leave the country without the prior permission of the court and should deposit their passports in court. They were also directed to fully cooperative with the investigating agencies.

The Judge delivered the judgement at about 8.20 pm in a packed courtroom. The legal proceeding in the case began today at about 11.30 am with the public prosecutor opposing the bail to the Badals.

In the reply to the arguments of the defence that the Special Court, Ropar, had no jurisdiction to try the case of Mr Badal the public prosecutor maintained that the notification by the Punjab Governor had empowered the Ropar Special Court to try all cases of corruption committed anywhere in Punjab that were registered at the Mohali police station of the Vigilance.

The Badals besides committing corruption at Chandigarh had also committed at other places in Punjab like Muktsar and Killianwali.

Besides corruption was also allegedly committed in Ropar as they owned a poultry farm here that was a part of the disproportionate assets mentioned in the challan. Due to this the Special Court, Ropar, had the jurisdiction to try the present case against the Badals. To this, counsel of Badal maintained that as per the Prevention of Corruption Act, as interpreted by the Supreme Court, only the Special Court of the area could try the case. Since all the allegations against Mr Badal were during his stint as Chief Minister only the Chandigarh Special Court had the jurisdiction of trying the case as his office at Chandigarh was allegedly the hub of corruption.

The prosecution also countered the defence plea that proper sanction was not taken before prosecuting Mr Parkash Singh Badal and Mr Sukhbir Badal. The public prosecutor maintained that no sanction was required to prosecute the guilty in the case. The sanction for prosecuting of a public servant was required only in case he was holding the same office at the time of committing the crime. In the present case Sukhbir Badal was prosecuted for a crime committed for the period in which he was not a public servant. In the case of Mr Badal, since he was an MLA and enjoyed the Cabinet status only as a special privilege the sanction from the Speaker of the House had been taken. The prosecution also maintained that Mr Sukhbir Badal was being tried under Sections 8 and 9 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and therefore no sanction was required under the said sections.

Counsel of Mr Badal, however, contended the point that even other sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act were applicable on Sukhbir Badal as there was no differentiation between the accused in the challan.

The prosecution along with the reply attached newspaper clippings alleging that the Badals threatened the witnesses and the investigating officers in the case. Citing the leak of the challan before it was filed in the court, they also alleged that the Badals were trying to influen

ce the investigation and so should be kept in judicial custody.

The prosecution also maintained that a witness whose identity had not been disclosed was allegedly threatened by the Badals.

Defence counsel of Mr Badal on the other maintained that during the five-month investigation period the vigilance did not feel the necessity of arresting the Badals. The Badals cooperated with the investigating agencies whenever they were called. In addition they themselves appeared before the court on December 1 even though the summons were not served on them.

The vigilance had already filed a challan against them and the only basis for keeping the Badals in judicial custody was to ensure their presence in court. Since the accused were themselves cooperating with the court and investigating agencies there was no basis of keeping them under judicial custody.

To the prosecution citing newspaper clipping that the Badals were threatening investigating officials the defence maintained that even the Chief Minister had been issuing political statements and no cognizance should be taken regarding the political statements.

After the arguments were closed at about 4.30 pm the Judge demanded sometime for delivering the verdict. The prosecution once against pleaded for deferring the verdict till tomorrow. However the defence insisted for judgement today after which the Judge directed them to stay till he dictated the verdict.

Owing to the sensitivity of the case the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister and other senior officers of the Punjab Vigilance kept track of the proceedings from the Boat Club, Ropar.

[Gupt daasan daas]

Waheguroo Jee Ka Khalsa!

Waheguroo Jee Kee Fateh!!

people lie bhia gill je.

bhul chuk maf

Waheguroo Jee Ka Khalsa!

Waheguroo Jee Kee Fateh!!