The Punjab Congress has expressed serious concern over the observations and submissions made in two different courts on the widespread drugs and liquor menace in Punjab, which they say have completely nailed the Badal government’s lies on these two critical issues.Party leaders on Thursday referred to the Supreme Court observations on the proliferation of highway liquor vends, as well as to a submission by the Punjab government in the Punjab & Haryana High Court admitting to an excessively large number of cases of drug peddling registered in the state this year.these developments in the courts have thoroughly exposed the farcical claims of the Badals that there is no drug or liquor problem in Punjab, said Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) leaders Mohinder Singh Kaypee, Vikramjit Singh Chaudhary and Satnam Singh Kainth in a statement issued here.The fact that the apex court itself accused the Punjab government counsel of "acting like a mouthpiece for the liquor lobby by defending the policy” shows how deep-rooted the liquor menace in the state is, and how inexorably involved the Badal government is in promoting the lobby, the PPCC leaders said.
The counsel had pleaded in the court to make the ban on highway liquor effective from April 1, 2017, to prevent Rs. 1000 crore revenue loss to the exchequer. Citing the Punjab government’s submission in the state high court, the PPCC leaders noted that with the government itself admitting to 5517 cases being registered this year (till November 30) under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, the grimness of the situation needs no elaboration. And with sources of the drugs being identified in a mere 152 of these cases, there is clear evidence of complicity from the highest quarters, which is helping the police to cover up the investigations, they added.Reiterating PPCC president Captain Amarinder Singh’s promise to wipe out these problems from the state and punish all those found guilty of involvement in the drugs and liquor mafias, the Punjab Congress leaders said these issues would be taken up by the party on priority basis once it comes to power.