Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today said that PPCC Chief Captain Amarinder Singh has admitted that he has learnt the “art of fruad’ by Badals, who also committed the fraud in 2001 by exempting the 87 acres of land of Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT) fraudulent manner.State Convenor of AAP, Gurpreet Singh Waraich said that Captain has now “spilled the beans” who revealed that Badal as Chief Minister also committed fraud in 2001 by exempting 87 acre land AIT and he (Captain) followed the same modus operandi of fraud by exempting 32.10 acre of land of AIT.“It is humorous that Captain is trying to plead the innocence by admitting that although his predecessor committed the fraud but he did not take any action against him, but Badal played foul by booking him when he committed the same fraud by adopting the same modus operandi”, Waraich said.
“In the fit of frustration, Captain has virtually admitted his friendly gestures towards Badals, by sparing them on fraud, which gives enough indication of his nexus with Badals, which AAP always claimed”, AAP Convenor said.The way in which the eight-year-old corruption case is being withdrawn by Badals indicates towards strong nexus between Badals and Amarinder Singh, who have initiated “Give & Take” game by smelling their humiliating defeat in the upcoming assembly polls in 2007, Waraich said adding that both know it very well that after AAP comes into power in Punjab, all corruption cases against them would be taken to its logical conclusion.“When Amarinder says he is exonerated by Supreme Court, he must know that he was not exonerated from the offence he has committed, but he was only reinstated in Punjab assembly”, Waraich said adding that Amarinder’s claim that he was exonerated by the Apex Court was nothing else, but an attempt to mislead the people of Punjab.“Rather Punjab & Haryana High Court had ordered reinvestigation in the case, which Badal Government failed to do and complete in friendly manner”, AAP convener said.Unveiling the chronology of the corruption case against Amarinder Singh, Waraich said that in 2006 Amritsar Improvement Trust’s 32.10 acres of land was exempted from acquisition and was given to Veer Builders and colonizers private limited for colonization.
In 2006, when Captain Amarinder Singh was Chief Minister, the then Deputy Speaker Bir Devender Singh, raised the issue of corruption in assembly in March 2006, he said adding that in 2007 after formation of SAD-BJP Govt, it decided in December to constitute a committee to investigate the corruption allegation against Amarinder.In 2008 the Committee submitted its report, holding the exemption of land was illegal, which caused the loss of Rs 360 crore to state exchequer.On the recommendation of Punjab assembly, Vigilance Bureau had registered FIR indicting Amarinder and four others for offences including corruption cheat, forgery, tampering of official record and criminal conspiracy in the land scam, Wariach said.Thereafter Amarinder was expelled from 13th Vidhan Sabha and in 2009 Vigilance Bureau completed it probe, accordingly Chargesheet filed against 18 persons including Amarinder Singh, he said.In 2014, Punjab & Haryana High Court ordered re-investigation in the case after Amarinder pleaded Political Vendetta by Badals, but till 2015 it investigation continued but in tardy and sluggish pace. Now, when nearly 4 months left to election, Badals have decided to withdraw the case to maintain the ‘sanctity’ of their nexus with the key accused in the case Captain Amarinder Singh.