Badals used govt power to influence witnesses: Capt

“If you look at the proceedings of the case,ever since the Akali government came to power,all the key witnesses have turned hostile one by one,” observed the Captain,alleging that this clearly showed that the government had influenced the outcome of the case. The vigilance probe had initially accused the Badal family of amassing assets worth Rs 3,000 crore.

However,in the charge-sheet presented before the court,the Badal family’s assets were valued at around Rs 78 crore. Amarinder Singh said that with the accused as Chief Minister,it brought the Vigilance in direct clash with the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) and the CMO prevailed in the end.

Leader of the Opposition Rajinder Kaur Bhattal was,however,muted in her criticism. “It is a verdict from the court; so it would be inappropriate for me to comment,“ she said. Asked specifically whether the Badals had used the government’s power to influence the witnesses she said,“Misuse of power usually happens in such cases but as I said,the verdict has come from court and it would be wrong to cast aspersions on it.”

Other leaders of the Congress were more vocal. MLA Sukhpal Khaira said,“We can’t fault the court because the witnesses changed their statements. But the Chief Minister and his son used the entire political machinery and government power to make these witnesses retract their statements.”

“It is a shame that a senior office like Surinder Pal Singh,who was the investigating officer in the case also gave up. We,however,welcome the fact that the court has initiated perjury proceedings against two officers. These proceedings should be initiated against all the witnesses who have turned hostile in this case,” he opined.