Amritsar Improvement Trust case: Punjab CM Amarinder Singh celebrates with family and friends after acquittal

Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh with wife Preneet Kaur and others at his residence after the court verdict on Friday. (Express Photo)

It was a day of celebrations at Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh’s residence on Friday after a Mohali court accepted the cancellation report in the Amritsar Improvement Trust case. Amarinder, who was an accused in the case, was present in the court when the closure report was accepted. His wife and former union minister Preneet Kaur was by his side when the victory was being celebrated at his house. His Cabinet colleagues including Brahm Mohindra and OP Soni personally visited him to congratulate him.

Amarinder, in a statement, called it “a victory for truth, which had proved that the charges were nothing but a fabrication of the previous regime to further their agenda of political vendetta.” “The entire case was clearly politically motivated from the outset. As many as 500 hearings were held in the case, which caused a lot of inconvenience not only to him but also the general public,” the statement added.

“Such things (political vendettas) should not happen, they are not healthy for democracy. The Vigilance Bureau was not to be blamed,” he said. On the cancellation report, he pointed out it was originally filed under the erstwhile SAD-BJP regime, after the Bureau reinvestigated the matter on court orders. “I had no role to play in the cancellation,” he said, adding that it was done on merit.

The Chief Minister’s lawyer A P S Deol said justice had prevailed and their faith in the judiciary had been redeemed. It had been proved there was no value in the case, he said. In response to a query, he clarified that there was no scope for appeal in the case as no charges had been framed.