Mohali court asks for state govt’s response on Bir Devinder’s plea

MOHALI: A local court on Monday sought a response from the Punjab government on former state assembly deputy speaker Bir Devinder’s plea urging the state vigilance bureau (VB) to not to quash the case against chief minister Capt Amrinder Singh in the Amritsar improvement trust land scam and make him (Bir Devinder) a government witness.

He has also demanded a CBI probe into the case.

Devinder had moved the plea six days before the scheduled hearing that was held on Monday. The next hearing of the case will be held on November 29.

The petition said the complaint in the case was made by Bir Devinder and the statement he had given to the vigilance has not been considered. Therefore, it asks for a fair probe in the case.

Bir Devinder had served as deputy speaker during the previous tenure of Amarinder as chief minister. When the SADBJP government came to power in the state, a case was registered against Amarinder Singh and 17 others in a Mohali court for irregularities in the purchase of 32 acres of municipal corporation land by the Amritsar improvement trust.

In October 2016, the vigilance bureau had filed a cancellation report in the case, which the court had sent back in August this year, asking the probe agency to re-investigate some points.

Bir Devinder said the vigilance bureau has misrepresented the facts as a huge amount of money was involved in the scam that needs a fair probe.