Punjab CM blames Akalis for scuttling Bargari case probe

Punjab CM blames Akalis for scuttling Bargari case probe

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh. (File Photo: IANS)

Chandigarh, Aug 6 (IANS) Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday directed the state Advocate General to oppose the CBI closure report in the Bargari sacrilege case, saying the agency had no jurisdiction to file the report in light of the January 2019 observations of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The Chief Minister issued the directive on the basis of the judicial and legal position shared with him by Advocate General Atul Nanda after a detailed examination of the facts and circumstances preceding the closure report, said an official spokesperson.

The case relates to torn pages from a Sikh holy book found in Bargari village on October 12, 2015. A month later, the then Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) government had handed over its investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Earlier in the state Assembly, the Chief Minister held the former Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) government squarely responsible for scuttling the investigations in the Bargari sacrilege case and failing to bring the culprits to book till date.

Responding to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator Aman Arora who raised the issue during Zero Hour, Amarinder Singh declared in the Assembly that despite the Akalis' efforts to obstruct justice, his government would take the case to its logical conclusion and ensure justice for the victims.

Lashing out at the SAD for its obstructive role in the entire case, the Chief Minister pointed out that they (Akalis) had first handed over the case to the CBI to delay the investigations and had now pressurised it to submit a hurried closure report.

No proper inquiry was conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), said Amarinder Singh, adding that the central agency deliberately did not make any headway in the case under the directives of former deputy chief minister and Home minister Sukhbir Badal.

"The CBI did no investigations because of you," he said, pointing to the Akali benches.

The Chief Minister said the CBI was earlier keen on challenging the state's decision to withdraw the Bargari cases from it, but then suddenly and inexplicably decided to file its closure report. It was obvious that the agency had acted under political pressure, he added.

The fact of the CBI's failure to make any progress in the investigations had been taken note of by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the Chief Minister observed, reading out from the January 25 judgment.

The court, in its verdict, had stated: "In the instant case, as FIRs had already been registered by the state police and notifications issued in 2015 did not give a general power to the CBI to register cases apart from the FIRs specified in the notifications, the question of prospective operation of notification withdrawing consent would not arise."

On a specific query being put to the CBI counsel about the status of investigations despite a lapse of almost three years, no clear answer was forthcoming, the Chief Minister said.

Amarinder Singh also highlighted the fact that the court had found the Special Investigation Team set up by the state to be fully equipped to handle the probe.

Given the facts and circumstances, it was more than obvious that the CBI decision to file its closure report was ill-motivated and not in the interest of justice in the Bargari case, the Chief Minister informed the House.

--IANS

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