Drug case: Khaira moves HC, Capt denies vendetta
AAP tells Punjab leaders to team up, focus on municipal polls
CHANDIGARH: Leader of opposition in the Punjab assembly and A am Aadmi Party MLA Sukhpal Khaira moved the Punjab and Haryana high court on Friday challenging the summons issued by a Fazilka court in a drug case. The case is likely to come up for hearing on Monday.
In his application, Khaira termed the summons against him in a two-year-old case politically motivated. He said when the trail has concluded and the main accused has been convicted, how he can be summoned now?
K hair a’ s name had come up in the case after the arrest of some drug smugglers in Fazilka in 2015. The court had summoned Khiara on November 30, along with four others, including his personal assistant and personal security officer, under Section 319 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
In Patiala, chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh rejected the AAP’s allegation of vendetta behind the court proceedings against Khaira. “The state government has no role to play in this and the summons issued to the leader of opposition in a drugs case is a court decision,” he said. The Congress government does not believe in any interference in judicial matters and the judiciary has taken an independent decision to summon Khaira in the case, the CM said, adding that the judge’s decision must certainly have been merited by some facts.
Khaira had alleged that the court order was a “deep-rooted conspiracy” hatched by the Congress regime in the state to “intimidate and gag” the voices of its political opponents. On October 31, a Fazilka court had sent nine persons to jail in connection with a cross-border heroin smuggling racket, which had surfaced in 2015. The court has summoned Khaira in connection with the case on November 30. CHANDIGARH: The Aam Aadmi Party( A AP) has asked its Punjab leaders to bury their differences and work in unison in the state. The central leaders, who held a meeting with legislators and office-bearers of the party’s state unit in Delhi on Thursday evening, told them to team up to put the party back on track and focus on the upcoming municipal polls in the state, according to sources.
About 40 municipal bodies, including the key corporations of Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Patiala and Amritsar, are expected to go to polls by December-end. The party leaders, including MLAs, have already been assigned duties for the elections.
The Punjab meeting, which held after the party’s National Council met, was attended by senior leaders including Manish Si so dia, Pankaj Gupta and Go pal Rai. “The central leadership, which has been concerned over internal bickering in the factionridden state unit, also asked the MLA sand office-bearers to share their suggestions.
KHAIRA’S NAME HAD COME UP IN THE CASE AFTER THE ARREST OF DRUG SMUGGLERS IN FAZILKA IN 2015