Chandigarh/Ludhiana, Nov 26
Caught on the back foot with Enforcement Directorate (ED) ready to summon Punjab Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia, the SAD-led Punjab government is firmly behind the minister.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today came to the rescue of Majithia and denied he would be asked to step down after ED made it clear that it would summon Majithia in the Rs 6,000 crore drug racket case.

Interacting with the media after the Punjab Cabinet meeting, the CM said there was no substantial evidence against Majithia to prove his involvement in the drug racket, allegedly operated by dismissed DSP Jagdish Singh Bhola. “Jad tak saboot nahin aanda, assi ki kar sakde haan (We cannot act against Majithia until there is a strong evidence against him),” he said.

Sukhbir, who was in Ludhiana today, said: “The allegations are a political stunt aimed at tarnishing the image of the state government.” Talking to reporters, Sukhbir refuted allegations that the government was going soft on drug peddlers. “The Punjab Government has adopted a zero tolerance policy against drug trafficking and many notorious smugglers have been sent to jail,” he claimed, adding that drugs were being smuggled either from Pakistan or from other bordering states to Delhi through Punjab. The onus to tackle drug problem lies on the Centre, he said.

The Punjab Police also came in the minister’s defence by claiming that it had found allegations of Majithia receiving hawala money as “false and fabricated”. It also maintained that former Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira was basing the allegations on forged transcripts of Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of the Punjab Police and his role, along with that of a sub-inspector, who supplied the forged transcripts, was under scanner. The Punjab Police claimed to have solved the mystery behind the leakage of some Financial Intelligence Unit documents, which suggested that Majithia had received Rs 70 lakh as hawala money in April 2011. In July this year, former Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira had alleged that he had received documents of the FIU, which showed that Majithia had received the hawala money through Gurmeet Manchanda.

IG (Intelligence) Gaurav Yadav said the police investigations revealed that sub-inspector Swaran Gandhi, who was earlier posted with the FIU, prepared the forged transcripts. Showing the original transcripts and comparing these with the forged ones that Khaira had used, Yadav said the name and number of the Revenue Minister was deliberately added by someone in order to defame him.

He said Gandhi had admitted that he forged the transcripts which were records of legal phone tapping of some people involved in money laundering. He said the SSP, Sangrur, has been asked to conduct an inquiry. He did not rule out the possibility of examining Khaira’s role in the forging of the transcripts.

Meanwhile, the political slugfest on the issue continued with Akali minister Sikandar Singh Maluka and SAD spokesman Virsa Singh Valtoha questioning the “double standards” of the Congress by not seeking the resignation of Chaudhary Santokh Singh who was also questioned by ED in the drug racket.

The Opposition parties – the Congress and Manpreet Singh Badal’s People’s Party of Punjab — continued their tirade against the Badals on this issue. Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, MLA from Dera Baba Nanak, alleged that Majithia was being shielded by his relatives, enjoying power in the state and his sister, a Cabinet Minister in Modi government.