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PIL seeks to put Punjab's
Vigilance Bureau in the dock
WSN Network
 If
earlier it was the Amarinder Singh government that used to regularly
unleash the Vigilance Bureau sleuths against its perceived enemies,
later the baton passed on to Prakash Singh Badal who merely changed
the man at the helm of the VB but used the Bureau for similar
purposes.
Now that the
Vigilance Bureau has almost become synonymous with dirty tricks
department, it seems some public spirited people plan to take the
matter to the courts and apply some correctives, though the initial
moves show that these are people with sympathies for Congress'
Amarinder Singh.
However, things
have started moving. The Punjab and Haryana High Court, acting on a
public interest litigation (PIL) levelling allegations of political
vendetta and illegal functioning against the Bureau, issues notices
to the Punjab government and Sumedh Singh Saini, Chief Director,
Vigilance Bureau, Punjab on Monday.
Jointly filed by
Sukhdev Singh Dhillon, former member of Law Commission, Punjab; and
advocates Dr Dayal Partap Singh and Parampreet Singh Brar, the PIL
levels a series of serious allegations against the Vigilance Bureau.
Taking stock of the contentions, a Division Bench comprising Acting
Chief Justice Mehtab Singh Gill and Justice R C Gupta issued the
notices.
In the PIL, the
petitioners have requested the High Court to ask the
Punjab
government to explain why mandatory Vigilance guidelines have not
been complied with. “The
Punjab
government should be directed to take action against all Vigilance
officials who have intentionally been violating the guidelines to
serve their own ends”, the petition reads. The petitioners had also
sought directions to trial courts to stay proceedings in various
FIRs involving former Punjab DGP S S Virk, former CM Capt Amarinder,
and other Congress workers, registered by the Vigilance Bureau.
The Bench
granted stay over the trial of the Ludhiana City Centre scam and
case against former Director General of Police (DGP), Punjab S S
Virk, and issue notices to punjab in the cases. It also summoned the
entire record pertaining to four FIRs registered by the Vigilance
Bureau. The cases involve the Ludhiana City Centre scam; a
disproportionate assets case against Amarinder, and a case against
Virk. These cases are at trial stage in various lower courts of
Punjab.
The record was
summoned on the request of the petitioners who alleged that “the
record will speak volumes about the illegalities committed by
Vigilance Bureau with regard to registration of FIRs, and
irregularities committed by the Bureau”.
In its
voluminous PIL, the petitioners have given complete background as to
how after the Akali-BJP government came into power, the Vigilance
Act was repealed and the mandatory guidelines for proper functioning
of Vigilance were “brazenly flouted”. As per the guidelines, the
petition reads, the Vigilance Bureau cannot even register an FIR
without prior approval of a committee which comprises the State
Chief Secretary; Legal Remembrancer and Chief Director, Vigilance,
among others.
“The Vigilance
Bureau on its own has been lodging FIRs after receiving fabricated
source reports and proceeding with investigation without any legal
procedure. The Bureau has no authority to proceed on its own. In
most of the cases registered by the Bureau, the complainant is the
Investigating Officer (IO), mostly a Superintendent of Police or a
SSP,” reads the PIL.
The petitioners
have stated that “the Bureau has been working as an oppressive
outfit aiming at settling personal or political scores without
following guidelines. Brute force for making mockery of law has been
used by the Bureau”.
Referring to
cases registered against Captain Amarinder, the PIL reads “In order
to humiliate Amarinder, absolutely cheap, vulgar and obnoxious
allegations have been leveled against him by the Bureau”.
However, the
misuse of the VB involves a far wider range of politics as the
Congress regime of Amarinder was the first one to raise the profile
of the Bureau and use it towards political ends.
2
December 2009
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