New Delhi, June 30
International Food Chain company Wimpy, of London-based NRI Kanwal Singh Sidhu, a close family friend of former Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, today moved the Delhi High Court seeking the quashing of the investigation against its officials, arrested by the Punjab Government’s Vigilance Bureau in connection with a corruption case against Mr Badal’s former OSD.
Taking cognisance of its writ petition, a vacation Bench comprising Mr Justice Mukul Mudgal and Mr Justice R.S. Sodhi, issued notices to the Punjab Government, Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and other respondents, seeking their replies by July 4.
The notices were also issued to the Delhi Government, five officials of the Vigilance Bureau, who had raided Wimpy’s premises on June 14, on a petition moved by company’s counsel Sidharth Luthra, alleging that its officials’ names were being “unnecessarily” dragged into the case against Mr Badal’s former OSD Hardeep Singh Bhamra.
The Vigilance Bureau, which is probing the cases of disproportionate assets against Mr Badal and Mr Bhamra, had picked up Wimpy’s vice-president Yash Dhawan, Finance Director R K Gupta, Deputy Manager (Finance) Sanjiv Kulshreshta and two drivers on June 14 without informing the Delhi police. All of them are presently in judicial custody in Punjab.
The court has also sought replies from the Deputy Commissioner of Police (South Delhi) and the Assistant Commissioner of Police (Greater Kailash) from whose jurisdiction five company officials, were detained.
The court rejected the Punjab Government counsel Ajay Bansal’s request for granting it a week’s time to submit the reply and directed him to ensure that it is filed by July 4, when the matter will be taken up for hearing.
It also sought an explanation from the Delhi police how the bureau sleuths had raided the office of the company and detained its officials under their jurisdiction.
Describing the action of the bureau as “illegal” for “violating” the law requiring to take the assistance of the local police in arresting a person in the territory of other state, senior advocate Rajiv Nayyar, arguing for Wimpy said the raids on the company premises was “motivated”.
“Company officials are being harassed due to political vendetta even though the company or its officials are in no way connected with Mr Badal or any person close to him,” Mr Nayyar contended.
The Wimpy counsel said company officials were arrested in connection with the FIR registered against Mr Bhamra for his allegedly acquiring assests disproportionate to his known sources of income. But when the Punjab Chief Minister “failed in his efforts to arrest the accused and embarrass his political rival (Mr Badal), he vent out his ire on the company and its employees, on account of his previous grievance against Wimpy’s Managing Director and Chairman Kanwal Singh Sidhu”, they alleged.
The bureau had alleged that Wimpy’s Managing Director, who had a “very close relationship” with Mr Badal, had helped the former Chief
Minister's family “in converting their ill-gotten black money into white money”.
Accusing the state government of acting “maliciously and with mala fide intention”, the company said bureau officials had no jurisdiction to raid its premises and if they wanted to question its employees, they should have approached through the Delhi police as required under law.
Seeking the registration of an FIR against bureau officials and appropriate action against them, the company said their action amounted to “grave criminal offence committed by public servants in violation of the law.”
It also accused the Delhi police of “failing” to register a case against the bureau officials for their “illegal” action despite a complaint being filed by the company soon after their detaining its officials and taking them to Punjab without informing the local police.
