हिंदी
Punjab government should file writ petition in SC to transfer drugs case, ensure time-bound proceeding
Case delayed for long time, hampering sentencing of drug traffickers and political leaders involved
Chandigarh, September 2 2021
Taking notice of the issue pertaining to a Punjab and Haryana High Court judge recusing himself from hearing on the Special Task Force (STF) report of a high profile drugs case concerning Punjab; the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab demanded the transfer of the drugs case from Punjab and Haryana High Court to any other High Court. In a statement issued from the party headquarters here on Thursday, AAP senior leader and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Harpal Singh Cheema said that a drugs case report had been lying pending in the High Court, which the Punjab government had not strived even once to get it open.
Cheema said a private lawyer however had filed a writ petition contending that the STF sealed reports need to be opened and considered; but an honorable High Court judge had recused from hearing the petition. “The hearing in the multi-crore drugs case is constantly being delayed. The matter relates to drug mafia operating in Punjab which has links with big politicians and needs to be dealt with on an urgent basis as it affected Punjab and the lives of the youth of the state,” he said, adding that the delay in opening of the STF report is causing further delay in the investigation.
Accusing the Punjab government for delaying the case, Harpal Singh Cheema demanded that the Congress government should take up the matter in the Supreme Court to transfer the drug case from the Punjab and Haryana High Court to another state; so as to avoid unnecessary delay in the case. “The Punjab government should immediately file a writ petition in the Supreme Court for transferring of the case to High Court of any other state; as names of several people including drug traffickers are getting linked, directly or indirectly, with politicians and bureaucrats,” he added.
The LoP further said the case has been delayed for a long time for one reason or another and thus the government should ensure that the case is heard on a daily basis and a decision is issued within a specified time. “A time-bound proceeding should be held in the case, so that the drug traffickers who are roaming scot-free and the political leaders who rescued them should be put behind bars and the people of Punjab get justice,” said Cheema.
Cheema said that even before this, the esteemed judges of the High Court have distanced themselves from the case due to which no solution seems to be forthcoming. Taking a dig at the Punjab government, Harpal Singh Cheema said, “If the Captain government does not file such a writ petition in the apex court; it will prove that Captain Amarinder Singh himself is patronizing the drug traffickers and the political leaders who are protecting them.”
