Quitely, the Punjab government has shunted out the seven special public prosecutors (SPP) appointed by the previous Congress government in the high-profile corruption case against Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his family members.The case, registered in June 2003 and investigated by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau during the tenure of the Capt Amarinder Singh Congress government, accuses the Badals and some others of indulging in corruption and amassing wealth worth hundreds of crores when Badal was Chief Minister from 1997 to 2002. The notification, issued recently by the Home Department, says the appointment of the seven as SPPs was being cancelled with immediate effect “in (the) public interest”. These are: former Punjab advocate-general Rajinder Singh Cheema; senior Supreme Court lawyers U U Lalit and Rajiv Dutta; senior High Court lawyer APS Deol and advocates Amarpal Singh Randhawa, Harbhajan Singh Sandhu and Sukhdev Singh Tiwana.Among the accused who are chargesheeted under the Prevention of Corruption Act are Badal, his MP-son Sukhbir Singh Badal, the Chief Minister’s wife Surinder Kaur, Badal’s cousin Narottam Singh Dhillon, caretaker Harbans Lal, Pavittar Singh, and Punjab Police ASI G.S. Grewal. Five accused are absconding. On March 13, Ropar Special Judge G S Saran had ordered framing of charges under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act against the Chief Minister and others. Sources said that the prosecution charge would now be handled by Ropar district attorney Pradeep Mehta. Mehta recently attracted controversy for his stand during the hearing of the case after the change of government where he opposed the prosecutor’s stand.
