Ludhiana city centre scam: Court reserves order on ex-SSP's plea

A Punjab court today reserved its order on a former SSP's plea to hear him before accepting a close report of the alleged Rs 1,100-crore Ludhiana City Centre scam, in which Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, his son and son-in-law are among the accused.

The case, alleging that a private builder was favoured during Singh's previous term as CM, was filed in 2007 when the SAD-BJP was in power. But last year, the state Vigilance Bureau had filed a closure report, saying its reinvestigation of the alleged Rs 1,144-crore scam found nothing to substantiate the charges against Singh, his son Raninder Singh, son-in-law Raminder Singh and 33 others.

 

In July, Kanwarjit Singh Sandhu, former SSP, vigilance, Ludhiana, had pleaded with the court to hear him before accepting the bureau's closure report. Sandhu had said as a key investigator in the case he was "privy to certain important facts", which he wanted to bring to the notice of the court.

Sandhu's counsel, Vijay Mahendru, today argued that the former SSP was the main complainant in the case and, therefore, the court should hear him before accepting or rejecting the closure report.

The court reserved its orders on the SSP's application for August 24, his counsel said.

Sandhu also moved another application in the trial court against the Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT), saying it could not "sail in two boats" at the same time.

His counsel said a case was pending in which a Delhi-based private company, Today Homes, one of the accused in the case, had moved court, demanding compensation from the LIT, which opposed the demand.

"LIT cannot sail in two boats. In one court, they are opposing this company and in the second one, they are giving clean chit to it, saying there was no scam. If the court decides in favour of the company, assets of LIT will be auctioned to pay compensation in crores to the company," Mahendru added.

Touted as one of the biggest projects in the state, the Ludhiana City Centre plan was rolled out in 2006. To be spread over 25 acres, the project proposed to have shopping malls, multiplexes, residential apartments, helipad and parking slot. The project site on Pakhowal Road of Ludhiana, however, is currently in ruins.