The Punjab government on Tuesday decided to approach the Election Commission of India (ECI) seeking a review of its decision to transfer Inspector General of Police (IGP), Crime, Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh.
The ECI on Monday had directed the Punjab government to transfer Kunwar for "violating" the Model Code of Conduct. Following the directions, the Punjab government posted Kunwar as Inspector General of Police, Counter-Intelligence, in Amritsar.
Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has alleged that the EC order to transfer Kunwar was issued on the basis of a complaint filed by an Akali Dal leader.
"Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has found the EC order, issued in response to a complaint by an Akali Dal leader, to be tantamount to being direct interference in the investigations into the Bargari firing incident and has decided to ask the Election Commission to reconsider the matter in the interest of justice and Constitutional propriety," an official statement read.
"The Akalis had been trying unsuccessfully to scuttle the investigations into the sacrilege and subsequent firing cases that took place during their tenure, and were now resorting to desperate measures to save their skin," said Chief Minister Amarinder.
The brazen nexus between the BJP-SAD and ECI was manifest in the latter's spate of recent orders and directives that were clearly skewed against the Congress, particularly in the states ruled by it, said the Chief Minister, while lamenting the demolition of all major Constitutional and democratic institutions in the country.
"The state government's sole intention in setting up the SIT, of which the IG was a key member and instrumental in the SIT's aggressive investigations, was to bring the culprits to book and take the probe in the 2015 case to its logical conclusion," said Singh.
The SIT, he pointed out, had been carrying out its investigations as per the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, on a civil writ petition and their report was placed before the HC, which had reposed full faith in the investigations and had declined to monitor the same, he pointed out.
In fact, the High Court had on January 25, 2019, had even declined to transfer the probe to the CBI as the SIT had conducted investigations into four criminal cases in a fair, impartial, independent and professional manner, without being influenced by any extraneous considerations, the Chief Minister noted.
Further, said the Chief Minister, the investigations were undertaken by the SIT were of the nature of a statutory requirement under the CrPC, in which even courts do not interfere.
"The EC was simply not authorized to interfere in such a matter," he added.
Amarinder Singh also urged the Election Commission not to allow its integrity to be compromised in such manner by the political vested interests of the ruling BJP and its allies, including SAD.
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