The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Wednesday, April 24, 2002, Chandigarh, India

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Commission to probe ‘misdoings’ of Badal govt
Sarbjit Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 23
The Punjab Government today ordered the setting up of a one-man commission of inquiry to probe “irregularities, illegalities, corruption and other misdoings” of the previous government headed by Mr Parkash Singh Badal.

The government has also stopped the appointments of the candidates recommended by the Punjab Subordinate Services Selection Board (PSSSB) a few weeks before the Congress government took over in Punjab. The government may also order an inquiry into selections made by the board, which was removed by the present government. Most of the selections appear “not to be above board”, says the government.

The task

Acts of omission and commission by the previous government
Mala-fide acts were detrimental to the public interest
Acts committed for personal gain which adversely affected the state exchequer, or squandering of public money or resources
Acts done with the intention of doing favour to one particular class of persons or harming the interest of the general public
Acts of corruption, i.e. in lieu of consideration for doing an illegal act or for not doing a legal duty
Matters as are referred to the commission by the state government from time to time

The setting up of the commission has been approved by the Council of Ministers (CoMs) which met here this morning.

The inquiry commission will be headed by Justice A.S. Garg, who has retired from the Punjab and Haryana High Court. It has been authorised to cover the previous Chief Minister, Cabinet Ministers, Ministers of State, the Chief Parliamentary Secretary, MPs, MLAs, former MPs and MLAs, public servants covered under Section 21 of the IPC and public men as envisaged by the Lok Pal Act.

The inquiry will pertain to the SAD-BJP government’s period from February 14, 1997, to February 27, 2002.

“Over the past one week we have been flooded with complaints and telephone calls against political and other functionaries of the previous government. That made us to immediately set up the commission. Now the persons concerned can approach the commission with their complaints and evidence, etc, which will form the basis of the inquiry”, the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, told TNS immediately after the meeting of the CoMs. He said the commission would not prosecute anyone. It had the power to conduct the inquiry and submit a report within six months.

After going through the inquiry report, the government would decide how to proceed in the court of law against those found guilty, said Capt Amarinder Singh. He said the commission would first sift the genuine complaints, as this would be necessary to avoid motivated ones. There would be no witch-hunt.

The scope of the inquiry has been kept “open ended”. In fact, the draft of the notification approved by the CoMs with regard to the setting up of the commission enables it to include anything pertaining to the Badal government in its jurisdiction.

The headquarters of the commission will be in Chandigarh and its head will draw pay, allowances and perks on a par with those fixed for a sitting judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Interestingly, before the elections the Congress had promised an inquiry into the affairs of the SAD-BJP government by a sitting judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court with prosecution powers.

When asked what would be the function of the Lok Pal in the existing situation as the government had given its task to the commission of inquiry, Capt Amarinder Singh said the government had not applied its mind with regard to the Lok Pal issue yet.

The government has kept the period of the previous government within the jurisdiction of the commission of inquiry. It has not included the period of the previous government of the Congress, which was in power from 1992 to 1997. “It was the job of the SAD-BJP government to order an inquiry into the affairs of the government that was in the saddle before February, 1997”, said a senior Congress Minister.” Obviously, Mr Badal did not find anything against the previous Congress government, that is why no inquiry was ordered”, he added.

Setting up of commission ‘politically motivated’
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 23
While commenting on the setting up of a commission of inquiry today to probe the affairs of the previous SAD-BJP government, the Shiromani Akali Dal headed by Mr Parkash Singh Badal described it as a “one-sided and politically motivated exercise” to target leaders of the SAD. However, the CPI, which contested the Assembly elections as a partner of the Congress, welcomed the inquiry.

Capt Kanwaljit Singh, general secretary of the SAD, said that it was not a sincere effort on the part of the government to cleanse public life. It was an attempt by the Congress government to target its political rivals.

He said if it would have been sincere effort to cleanse public life, the SAD would have been the first to welcome it. The state government should have ordered an inquiry starting from 1992 when the Congress was in power. After holding the inquiry, it could have compared the period of the Congress government from 1992 to 1997 and that of the SAD-BJP government from 1997 to 2002.

Dr Joginder Dayal, secretary of the Punjab unit of the CPI, welcomed the sacking of the Vice-Chancellor of Punjabi University, cancellation of the recruitment for certain categories of posts by the Punjab Public Service Commission and the setting up of the commission of inquiry. He said before the elections the Congress-CPI alliance had promised to hold an inquiry into the “misdeeds” of the previous government and it had fulfilled it by setting up the commission.