New Delhi, September 19
The Punjab Government today came out strongly to justify Mr Parkash Singh Badal’s prosecution and even offered to shift the trial outside the state.
Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi appearing for the Punjab Government told a Bench of Mr Justices Arijit Pasayat and S.H. Kapaida that if Mr Badal and other Shiromani Akali Dal leaders had any objection to the appointment of the Special Judge, Ropar, to make a ground for malafide prosecution, the government would have no objection in transferring the case to the Union Territory of Chandigarh or anywhere else.
“The state of Punjab is not interested in the trial by a particular court. If it is sent to Chandigarh or anywhere else, we have no objection but it should not be on the ground of illegalities,” Mr Dwivedi, appearing with Mr A.M. Singhvi for the government told the court, clarifying that he was making the statement on the instruction of Punjab Advocate-General
R.S. Cheema.
Mr Cheema told the court that there was no issue of sanction involved in the case of two Akali leaders Nirmal Singh Khailon and Sewa Singh Sekhon as they were not public servants at the time of framing of charges while the case of Mr Gurdev Singh Badal, another SAD leader, was placed on a different footing.
Reverting to Mr Parkash Singh Badal’s case, both Singhvi and Dwivedi said no illegality was committed in obtaining sanction for his prosecution from the Vidhan Sabha Speaker as the SAD president at the time of filing of the chargesheet, was only an MLA and the sanction had to be obtained from the Speaker.
