Former minister fails to appear in Virk case

Fearing his arrest, Punjab’s former local bodies minister Ch Jagjit Singh on Friday ‘avoided’ his appearance before the one-man probe...

Fearing his arrest, Punjab’s former local bodies minister Ch Jagjit Singh on Friday ‘avoided’ his appearance before the one-man probe panel instituted by the Punjab Government for probing charges of disproportionate assets and corruption against former director general of police S S Virk.

Though the former Local Bodies Minister came to Patiala from Jalandhar in the afternoon and reached the office of Patiala SSP S K Asthana, who heads the probe panel against Virk, he left the office within minutes.

Sources say Ch Jagjit Singh had come prepared along with his counsel from Chandigarh to appear before the probe panel, he left the venue within minutes saying he will return soon.

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Later, the former minister’s counsel appeared before the SSP and submitted an application seeking exemption from his appearance, citing health reasons. His counsel stated that Jagjit is keen to join the investigations in the case against former DGP Virk, but could not appear before the probe panel on Friday due to sudden illness (developing of cervical pain). He further claimed that he has been advised rest by a local doctor. No medical certificate was, however, attached with his application.

This is the second time within this week that Ch Jagjit Singh, the former local bodies minister in the previous Congress regime, has failed to appear before the probe panel.

He was earlier summoned by the probe panel for his appearance on Wednesday, but sought two day’s time then. He has now sought three more days of time and will appear on Monday and fresh summons have been issued to him in this regard.

Ch Jagjit Singh is being questioned by the one-man probe panel for his role in sanctioning a multi-crore housing project of the former DGP in Zirakpur. Incidentally, the former local bodies minister is also one of the prime accused in the multi-crore land scam of the Ludhiana Improvement Trust.

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Meanwhile, SSP Asthana said among other charges against the former minister, he is stated to have sanctioned the former DGP S.S. Virk’s multi-crore housing project even while the village panchayat and Zirakpur Municipal Council had refused to accord their sanction to the project.

The probe panel for reinvestigating the charges of corruption and disproportionate assets against Virk has been set up by the Punjab Government after the disbanding of the Vigilance probe against Virk by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.