Punjab Assembly in session: Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan rakes up corruption in House

Tells DGP to submit report on Kotkapura ASI for seeking bribe from gangster

Ruchika Khanna

Updated At : 10:18 AM Sep 03, 2024 IST

MLAs pay obituary references to departed souls at Punjab Vidhan Sabha on first day of three-day session.

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 2

In a move that has raised eyebrows, Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan today got the approval of the entire House to seek a report from the Director-General of Police regarding a Kotkapura-posted ASI, who is accused of demanding money from a gangster.

The report has to be given to the Speaker in private by the DGP by Tuesday. Since Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann also holds the charge of the Home Department, he will have to answer the questions about the report submitted by the DGP when the issue of gangster-police nexus is raised by the Opposition in the House.

Interestingly, this issue was not raised by any MLA, but by Speaker Sandhwan himself during the zero hour on the first day of the three-day monsoon session today. As the issue of corruption was raised by the Opposition, Sandhwan said he was pained at corruption in society.

Mafia running the govt
We thought we will run the government in a certain way, but sarkar ko mafia chala rahe hain. If you are able to control this corruption, we will be able to fulfil our promise of giving Ram Rajya to people. —Kunwar Vijay Pratap, AAP MLA

He sought answer from both AAP MLA Kunwar Vijay Pratap and Leader of Opposition Partap Bajwa on what should be done with ASI Bohar Singh, who blatantly sought bribe from a gangster, which the later deposited in his (ASI’s) bank account.

“An FIR was registered against the ASI under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act on the complaint of the gangster. But senior officers are trying to save him. What should be done,” he asked both one by one. Sandhwan is the Kotkapura MLA.

This gave both a handle to speak against the AAP government. Kunwar Vijay Pratap, who often speaks against his own party’s government over its alleged failure to investigate and punish those involved in the sacrilege cases, said the most important role in running the affairs of the government is of the mafia. “We thought we will run the government in a certain way, but sarkar ko mafia chala rahe hain. If you are able to control this corruption, we will be able to fulfil our promise of giving Ram Rajya to the people,” he said.

Bajwa said while such corrupt people should be thrown out of service and punished, the punishment should not be restricted to an ASI alone. “Action against senior police officers like those who gave their own mobile phone to a gangster like Lawrence Bishnoi for the interview with a TV channel should also be taken,” he said. All this happened within minutes of the CM leaving the House. Though Finance Minister Harpal Cheema and Renewable Energy Minister Aman Arora tried to save the day for the party, their pleas to the Speaker for not seeking the approval of the House and individually seeking a report from the DGP did not yield any results. While Cheema said being the Speaker, Sandhwan had the authority to summon anyone and did not need the House approval, Arora said the need of the hour was to devise a governance mechanism to stem corruption that works in auto mode.

A close confidant of the Speaker later told The Tribune that the Speaker was only trying to send a message across to the administration for failing to act against corrupt persons. “His message was clear — the legislature is keeping an eye on the executive. Nothing more should be read into this. Had he been trying to get into any political confrontation, he would have also sought a report on the facilitation of the Lawrence Bishnoi interview,” he said.

Congress MLA Pargat Singh said many in the Police Department are addicted to drugs. “I have brought this to the notice of two CMs. I have also made requests that dope tests be conducted. But my suggestions have been brushed aside on the pretext that it will bring down the morale of the police force,” he said.

CM mann in tight spot

The report has to be given to the Speaker in private by the DGP by Tuesday. Since Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann also holds the charge of the Home Department, he will have to answer the questions about the report submitted by the DGP when the issue of gangster- police nexus is raised by the Opposition MLAs in the House.