EXSSP’S plea to hear him before deciding on closure report rejected
‘NO LOCUS STANDI’ Court says former investigating officer in the case is neither a complainant, aggrieved party nor informant
LUDHIANA : A court on Thursday rejected the petition of former senior superintendent of police (SSP) Kanwarjit Singh Sandhu to hear him before giving verdict on the closure report the vigilance bureau has filed in the alleged Ludhiana City Centre scam in which Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh and his son are among the accused.
Sandhu in his plea in July this year had claimed that he was being coerced to give statement(s) in favour of the accused and being a key investigator in the case he is “privy to important facts” which he wanted to bring to the court’s notice.
In the closure report filed in August last year, the vigilance bureau had said there was no scam in the case and no proof was found against the accused during re-investigation.
Dismissing the plea, district and sessions judge Gurbir Singh observed that Sandhu is neither the complainant, aggrieved party nor the informant in the case, adding that he has “no locus standi” to file the petition.
The court relied on the Punjab prosecution department’s reply that it is the state which is the complainant in the case.
“The former SSP (Kanwarjit Singh Sandhu) has no locus standi to interfere in the case proceedings being an outsider. Therefore, he cannot be allowed to join the proceedings. He is also not a person aggrieved in any manner. He has no legal right to intervene in the proceedings,” the prosecution department had told the court.
“He has nothing to do with the case and whatever he has done is in his official capacity ceases to exist with demitting of his office,” the prosecution had stated.
Sandhu had retired in 2010. It was also stated that the case was registered on the basis of an inquiry report and not the source report Sandhu submitted as he had claimed.
THE CASE
The case was filed in 2007 during the Shiromani Akali Dal-bharatiya Janata Party (SAD-BJP)’ tenure, alleging that a private builder was favoured during Amarinder’s previous term as CM.
Amarinder, his son Raninder Singh, former local bodies minister Jagjit Singh (now dead) and 33 others were named as accused for allegedly causing monetary loss to the state.
Sandhu had alleged that Amarinder and former CM Parkash Singh Badal have joined hands to settle corruption cases filed against each other.
“Both Amarinder and Badal have colluded to scuttle the judicial process by diluting cases of corruption involving thousands of crores of rupees. They are also misusing their power to threaten and intimidate public servants who had investigated the cases against them,” Sandhu stated in his application.
THE FORMER VIGILANCE SSP IN HIS PLEA IN JULY THIS YEAR HAD CLAIMED THAT HE WAS BEING COERCED TO GIVE STATEMENT IN FAVOUR OF ACCUSED