Ex-deputy CM Soni appears before VB
Former Punjab deputy chief minister OP Soni appeared before the Amritsar vigilance bureau (VB) on Tuesday in a disproportionate assets case. He was questioned for two hours.
The VB had summoned him on November 26, but he didn’t turn up as he was out of station. He was summoned to appear on Tuesday.
“They (the VB) said they have a complaint that I have accumulated property more than my income. They asked me some questions about it,” he said, adding that the property in question had been declared by him in his election affidavit submitted to the Election Commission while contesting the assembly elections earlier this year.
“The property that I declared in my election affidavits is the same as I hold today. There is nothing wrong in it. The property is legally mine. I file returns and there is not a difference of a single paisa. Nonetheless, they have to do the inquiry, so I’m cooperating. Today, they gave us a form to fill in details,” he said.
Sources said the VB has prepared a list of Soni’s assets and income from 2007-22. Soni’s name also figured in the procurement of hand sanitisers, allegedly purchased at thrice the cost. During the 2007 assembly elections, Soni had declared assets worth ₹1.94 crore, which grew to ₹27.98 crore during the 2022 Vidhan Sabha elections.
Senior superintendent of police (vigilance), Amritsar, Varinder Singh said: “We have given seven days to Soni for filling in the proformas regarding his family and his assets.”