M A I N   N E W S

Vigilance men return empty-handed 
Raid on Badal’s house at Chandigarh
Sarbjit Dhaliwal and Poonam Batth
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 28
Armed with court orders and escorted by a strong posse of Chandigarh police, the search operation launched by the Vigilance Bureau at the private house of the former Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, ended as no “incriminating” documents were found during the seven-hour search.

The operation, which started at 11 am was conducted in connection with a case of disproportionate assets registered by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau against Mr Badal and seven others, including his wife and son.

For the Badal family, the end of the search brought a sigh of relief as the Bureau officials, including Mr S.P. Singh, Superintendent of the Police ( Vigilance Bureau), told newsmen that “nothing incriminating has been found. In any case, it was not our job to find any incriminating document. The search operation was held basically to assess the value of the property. We shall give the report to the higher authorities to find out from where the money for the property came”.

The claim was, however, countered by the Badals and their counsels maintaining that the court had only ordered search and not “assessment of the property”.Though Mr Badal said it was not “legal”, the family did not object to anything being done by the search team. “We do not want to give the excuse of not cooperating with the investigations,” he added.

The Bureau team, it is learnt, also took certain old files and a few cheque books indicating the monetary transactions made by the family during the past few years from the house.

The inventory prepared by vigilance sleuths also includes details of the numbers of ACs installed , household furniture, besides measurement of marble, stones, woodworks and other construction details to assess the amount of money spent on the renovation of the house during his tenure as the Chief Minister.

On the other hand, Mr Badal said this built-up house was bought by them about 35 years ago for just about Rs 2 lakh or so. However, it was renovated recently after making alterations as per the necessity of the family. “ What has been spent on the renovation and rebuilding the part house was duly

stated in the income tax returns filed by the family", he added. The house was now in the name of his son, Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal.

Moreover, the building plan had been duly passed by the UT authorities, he added. If the Bureau wanted to assess the value, then it should have asked for the building plan of the house. " I would have provided it happily", he added. "The main objective of the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, and his chosen team of Vigilance officers was to defame and humiliate us", Mr Badal said. The timing of the raid was so planned by the Bureau that it coincided with the panchayat elections to divert the attention of Akali workers .

The Bureau team led by Mr B.K. Uppal, DIG, and Mr S.P. Singh, SP, had three DSPs and two inspectors, besides three Executive Engineers, Mr S.P. Nanda, Mr Gurdeep Singh and Mr R.K. Garg, and three architects, Mr Swatantar Saini, Mr Sardara Singh and Mr Harish Kumar, besides others to take measurements of the house and its fittings. A list of inventory was made and given to Mr Manpreet Singh Badal, who was holding the fort in the absence of Mr Parkash Singh Badal, who was in touch with him at his official residence in Sector 2.

There was a brief and hot exchange between Mr Manpreet Singh and Mr S.P. Singh before the search started. Mr Manpreet Singh and an advocate, Mr Gurminder Singh, asked for a copy of the search warrant. Mr S.P. Singh asked them why they were asking for the copy when they knew that it was there. However, Mr Manpreet Singh insisted on seeing for what specific purpose the search warrant had been issued. Mr S.P. Singh said he was competent enough to decide what to do with the search warrant.

Mr Manpreet Singh pressed the point that the warrant was just to conduct the search and not to assess the value of the house by measuring the various rooms, other parts of the building and preparing a list of the fittings etc. Mr Badal also contacted Mr Manpreet Singh to convey the same to the search party. A team of advocates was also sent to Kharar to seek clarification from the court in this connection. After mutual consultations the search was allowed. However, a cameraman brought by the Bureau to take the pictures inside the house was not allowed.

A UT police team headed by the DSP ( Central), Mr S.C. Sagar, was deployed . A contingent of commandos was available at hand to deal with any exigency due to the presence of a large number of Akali workers.

Only a few lucky mediapersons were able to camp inside the house the whole day. By and large mediapersons, particularly the cameramen, had to be content waiting outside the premises in the hot and sultry weather.

Later, speaking to mediapersons, Mr Badal and Mr Manpreet Singh said the only purpose of Capt Amarinder Singh was to "finish" the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) by " discrediting" the Badal family. " Our properties are a part of the income tax returns and the records for the same are available", they said.

In fact, the Bureau had got the property details from the Income Tax authorities. "We have accepted the challenge and will fight it politically and legally. The government is presenting an exaggerated view before the public to tarnish the image of the Badals", they added.