Ranjit commission report leaked

Throws a spanner in the ruling Congress’s strategy to corner Akalis in the upcoming assembly session

Touted as a “highly confidential” official document, the entire report of Justice Ranjit Singh (retd) commission on the sacrilege incidents in the state was leaked on Tuesday even though the Punjab government is yet to table it in the assembly session expected to be held next month. It has virtually thrown a spanner in the Congress strategy to corner the opposition Shiromani Akali Dal in the Vidhan Sabha.

CHANDIGARH: Touted as a “highly confidential” official document, the entire report of Justice Ranjit Singh (retd) commission on the sacrilege incidents in the state was leaked on Tuesday even though the Punjab government is yet to table it in the assembly session expected next month.

The leak of the much-hyped report, already reported in a section of media in bits and pieces, is set to embarrass the Amarinder Singh-led Congress government, which had planned to politically milk the “explosive” report in the upcoming Vidhan Sabha session.

It has virtually thrown a spanner in the Congress strategy to corner the opposition Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), which has been roundly blamed for a string of incidents of desecration of Guru Granth Sahib in 2016 that had rocked the then SAD-BJP government led by Parkash Singh Badal. The Congress may now have to rethink its strategy.

UNDER WRAPS SINCE JUNE 30

The Amarinder government had set up the one-man commission under Justice Ranjit Singh, a retired judge of the Punjab and Haryana high court in April last year. The panel was tasked with probing the cases of sacrilege as well as police firing in Faridkot that left two Sikh protesters dead.

Even as the government is yet to set the date for the assembly session, some parts of the report, ostensibly kept under wraps by the chief minister’s office and home department, have trickled out through “selective leaks” in the past two weeks.

Since June 30, when Justice Ranjit Singh submitted the report to the CM, both have skirted media queries on the findings with a stock answer: “The report is highly confidential.”

Earlier, emphasising on the “top-secret” nature of the report, Justice Singh had told mediapersons that he had got it typed privately as he didn’t trust government officials.

Hindustan Times has a copy of the 192-page leaked document.

LENDS FIREPOWER TO OPPOSITION

Apart from raising questions on the safekeeping of the report that was supposed to be first tabled before the state legislature along with an action taken report, the all-out leak has political implications. Not only will it lend the opposition firepower to target the government over the credibility of the report, it gives Akalis ample time to chalk out their counter strategy in the assembly.

Clearly left red-faced, a section of senior Congress ministers are now wondering as to what the government would table in the House when there is nothing confidential about the report any more. “This (leak) takes the sting out of our strategy,” said a cabinet minister, on the condition of anonymity.

In fact, Akalis are already gunning for the panel and have dubbed it the “friendly commission” of chief minister. “It’s a highly biased report. Justice Ranjit Singh has written what his friend Captain Amarinder Singh wanted him to write,” says SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal.

To buttress their charge, Aka-

lis also cite Justice Ranjit Singh’s relationship with Aam Aadmi Party dissident leader Sukhpal Khaira, his brother-in-law.