Hindustan Times (Amritsar)

Khaira now regrets swear words, but claims to have more info on ‘bribe to judge’

- HT Correspond­ent letterschd@hindustant­imes.com n

CHANDIGARH:With the municipal polls on December 17 being the new battle, the A am A ad mi Party (AAP) put up a united show behind a mellowed leader of opp os it ionSukh pal SinghKh air a on Saturday.

Flanked by state A AP president B hag want Mann and known dissenters such as MLA Baljinder Kaur, Khaira expressed remorse for use of swear words against CM Capt Amarinder Sing hand Congress leaders during a press briefing at the assembly on the concluding day of the three-day winter session. K hair a had unleashed a front al attack on Am arin der after the government brought a resolution against the Bains brothers of the Lok Insaaf Party, AAP’s ally, over allegation­s that a judge of the Punjab and Haryana high court was bribed to not stay summons against him by a Fazilka court in a drug case. A stay was given by the Supreme Court on Friday.

“It was an unfortunat­e developmen­t. They dragged the assembly into vendetta politics by bringing the resolution (against the allegation­s). I take back the wrong words used by me ,” he said at a press conference. He did not withdraw his statements on Am arin der’ s personal life .“That is a matter of record. I am collecting more informatio­n on the CM’s friend from Pakistan,” he said.

Claiming that he has the sup- port of AAP chief and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal,Khair as aidKejriwa­l is guiding him legally, and the petition in the SC was filed on his advice. To a query on Kejriwal’s silence over the summons, he said ,“Has Son ia Gandhi( Congress chief) ever reacted to court summons to Am arin der? Ia min constant touch withKejriw­a land Manish Sisodia (Delhi deputy CM ). There solution proves A marinder is behind the payment of Rs 35 lakh bribe against me.”

Khaira had, on the day of the allegation­s, named Amarinder, SAD president Sukhbir Badal and power minister Rana Gurjit as the conspirato­rs behind the court summons, but later dropped Captain’s name.

Referring totheaudio clipthat forms thebasisof the allegation­s, Khaira said a longer version of the recording (1 hour 39 minutes) also has reference to an officer of the IA Sand three advocates who work as “go-betweens”. The clip has a purported conversati­on between lawyer Am it Ch aud ha ry and TK Goyal, a dismissed PCS officer, about payment to a judge in connection with the Khaira case. “We have more informatio­n, which we will give at the time of an investigat­ion ,” he said.

LIP chief Si marje et said A marind er is inflamed by his appeal in a court to become party in the Ludhiana City Centres cam case: “We were never scared of Bad a ls and we are now not scared of Amarinder.”

AAPSYMBOL IN POLLS TO3CORPORA­TIONS

On whether the party will contest the MC polls on its symbol, Mann said they will contest for three corporatio­ns, Amritsar, Patiala and Jalandhar, on the symbol and leave the rest to nominees’ choice between symbol and independen­t candidatur­e.

 ??  ?? Sukhpal Khaira (right) and state AAP chief Bhagwant Mann at a press conference in Chandigarh on Saturday. SANJEEV SHARMA/HT
Sukhpal Khaira (right) and state AAP chief Bhagwant Mann at a press conference in Chandigarh on Saturday. SANJEEV SHARMA/HT

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