Terming the CBI move as politically motivated and an attempt to scuttle the state government’s efforts to take the sacrilege cases to their logical conclusion, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday asked the Advocate General to legally oppose the CBI plea for keeping its Bargari closure report in abeyance.The Chief Minister asked AG Atul Nanda to prepare a strong case against the CBI plea for so-called further investigation in the cases, in which the agency had earlier filed a closure report without a proper probe or grounds.“The CBI had reduced the entire matter of the Bargari sacrilege cases to a charade. We will not let the CBI get away with such a blatantly political move,” asserted the Chief Minister, adding that his government would fight the agency tooth and nail to ensure the much delayed justice in the case.Captain Amarinder was reacting to the fact that the agency, on Monday, prayed before the CBI court “that present application may be taken on record considering that further investigation is continuing and till its conclusion the closure report filed earlier may kindly be kept in abeyance.” The CBI plea has come less than a week after the state government filed a revision petition in the CBI special court at Mohali challenging its July 23 orders dismissing the state’s request for a copy of the closure report filed by the agency.Instead of sharing the closure report copy, the CBI is now resorting to cheap tactics by seeking to reopen investigations in the Bargari cases, which it had earlier claimed to merit no further probe, said the Chief Minister.“Why are they not sharing the copy of the closure report? What are they trying to hide?” asked Captain Amarinder, declaring that the entire affair smacked of a clear attempt to bury the investigation for good.
Lashing out at the CBI for acting on the diktats of its political masters in Delhi, the Chief Minister questioned the sudden need on the part of the agency for further probe. “They had no explanation earlier for filing the closure report and no justification now for seeking to keep it in abeyance,” he said, adding that the CBI plea was clearly aimed at preventing the state government from getting the cases investigated by the SIT.The CBI is obviously acting under the orders of those who do not want the truth to come out, said Captain Amarinder, while vowing to ensure that the culprits of the Bargari cases are brought to book and the victims get justice, which is long overdue.The court should not allow the CBI plea and should uphold, in spirit, the unanimous of the state Vidhan Sabha to withdraw the cases from the national agency, said the Chief Minister. The CBI court should also take into account the judgement of the High Court of Haryana and Punjab stating that the CBI had made no progress in its investigations for three years before filing its closure report, he added. The High Court had also clearly stated that: “None of the learned counsel referred to any judgment in order to show that there was any fetter on power of State Govt. to withdraw consent in such cases where investigation was transferred from State police to CBI. Besides, due to withdrawal of consent, investigation would continue with one investigation agency and not partially with two separate agencies. The chain of events shows that same are inextricably linked, thus this court does not feel the necessity to interfere in the decision of the State Govt. to withdraw investigation from CBI or to set-aside consequent notifications.”