Mr Parkash Singh Badal interacts with mediapersons while coming out of UT District Court Complex after attending the court proceedings.
— Tribune photo by Pankaj Sharma |
Chandigarh, October 22
The deafening din of slogans drowned the assertive voices of arguing lawyers as the Sector 17 District Court Complex was converted into a battlefield this morning. As Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh stood in a witness box facing former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal supporters shouted at the top of their lungs.
The present and the former ministers from both sides sat silently as the Captain and Mr Badal, standing hardly at a distance of 15 feet, avoided eye contact.
For the Captain, his appearance in a defamation case filed by Mr Badal may have been the beginning of an end, but for Mr Badal it was nothing less than a battle won. He had the satisfaction of seeing Capt Amarinder Singh as an accused in the docks — at least this is what he told the media after the proceedings concluded.
Talking to the media soon after he was granted bail by the court, the Captain asserted, “I want the proceedings to finish as soon as possible so that the truth comes to light”. He declared that the Vigilance Bureau would present the charge sheet against Mr Badal by the end of the month.
Regarding the move to seek exemption from personnel appearance, the Captain asserted, “I will appear in the case as long as the court wants me to. I will stop coming only after I am granted exemption”. Denying the allegations of evading appearance, the Captain said he could not appear in the court twice because of health and security reasons.
Mr Badal, on the other hand, claimed that “security threat” was just an excuse to stay away from the court. “Security cover can be a problem for me, not for him”, Mr Badal added.
Terming the allegations as “false”, Mr Badal said, “They have nothing against us. If they had any evidence, it would have been presented a long time back. Interestingly, they got statements from 15 people, all of them were wrong. I challenge them to prove the authenticity of even one statement”.
Earlier during the day, as the two stood in front of each other in the courtroom of UT Chief Judicial Magistrate C.L. Mohal, their eyes did not meet. In fact, the Captain hardly said anything during the 10-minute-long proceedings. Rather his counsel M.L. Saggar did all the talking. He requested for a date in December so that the Captain was free from election work.
Standing right opposite, Mr Badal silently watched the proceedings while his counsel argued before the Magistrate.
Even as the proceedings continued in the second-floor courtroom, battlecries could be heard, loud and clear.
For the action, adequate security arrangements had been made by the Chandigarh police. The entire area had been cordoned off. The gate opposite the police station too had been closed.
Everywhere you looked, you could see armed police personnel standing next to the armoured vehicles as the traffic police tried its best to manage the rush. Even Punjab police personnel and commandos were present, “eyeing everyone with suspicion”.
The lawyers and the litigants, caught unawares, were thoroughly frisked before they managed to push their way through the jostling crowd only to find more security guards blocking the corridors with the help of ropes. In fact, the visitors were not even allowed to go beyond the first floor till the proceedings continued.
Later, Akali Dal supporters, raising anti-government slogans, blocked the exit forcing the Captain to walk up to the gate in an attempt to convince the agitating rival party members. After his efforts failed to bear results, he got into the car before the rushing vehicle made its way out of the court complex.
