Congress today urged Justice A N Jindal to recuse himself from the inquiry ordered by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal in the alleged book scam.
"Justice A N Jindal should recuse himself from the inquiry to uphold high moral standards expected from judges in view of connections between him and the SAD-BJP alliance," Punjab Congress said in a release.
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had ordered a probe into the alleged irregularities in purchase of books for government schools libraries, to be conducted by Justice A N Jindal, a retired Judge of Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Congress had been demanding removal of education minister Sikander Singh Maluka for his alleged role in the "book scam".
Raising a question mark over the probe, PPCC alleged that the immediate family of Justice A N Jindal's in-laws had "deep connections" with the ruling alliance of SAD-BJP.
"These revelations have only vindicated our allegatioins of a quid pro quo arrangement between Justice Jindal and (CM Parkash Singh) Badal, as well as education minister Sikander Singh Maluka," Punjab Congress spokesman S S Khaira said.
"Deepak Garg, who is now serving as Deputy Advocate General, Punjab, is the son of Sheetal Garg, brother-in-law of Justice Jindal. Maluka played a key role in the appointment of Deepak Garg as Deputy AG. Needless to mention, the Garg family have very close relations with the education minister," Khaira alleged.
