Punjab asks CBI to stop probe against official

The CBI had registered first information reports in the two cases in Delhi earlier on Wednesday. But the present government claims the former chief secretary had acted in a motivated manner, starting the cases just before the assembly elections and abstracting relevant files.

At a hurriedly convened press conference, state chief secretary R S Mann said the government had consulted the advocate general who said the action taken by the previous Congress government was malafide and needed to be reviewed. Following this, the government informed the CBI that it had withdrawn the notification given to it to investigate the two cases and that no action should be taken in the matter.

Punjab Cricket Association president I S Bindra, who was implicated in the cricket stadium case, criticised the CBI for registering a malicious and motivated FIR. He also demanded an inquiry by a panel of judges to clear the PCA's name.

Mann said his predecessor, former chief secretary V K Khanna, had passed both notifications on February 7, the day of the state assembly elections. The cases were initiated on February 6, making the circumstances very suspicious. The government would take harsh action against Khanna if it was indicated that disciplinary action was called for, Mann promised.

"We will expose the baselessness of the charges of the former chief secretary and the then chief minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal,'' said Bindra, adding, "We will take legal opinion to decide whether to file defamation suits against Khanna and Bhattal... We are fortunate they had such a short-lived existence."

The chief secretary also wondered at the speed with which the CBI took up the cases. He expressed his surprise that the agency was taking up ''such innocuous cases''.

Bindra also attacked the CBI, claiming that if the PCA had done wrong, then so had former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru when he allocated land to the Delhi golf club. Similarly, he went on scathingly, the defence ministry should be pulled up for giving land which was part of Fort William to the Calcutta Cricket Association. The defence ministry had also given land to the Hyderabad Cricket Association and to Bombay's Wankhede stadium. All this, he said, was part of the government patronage extended to sports

Mann said that the state vigilance had cleared Bikramjit Singh, accused of corruption on seven counts, had been exonerated by the state vigilance. The second case pertained to undue favours shown by the Punjab sports department in allocating 15.6 acres of land to the Punjab Cricket Association stadium on a lease of Rs 100 a year, besides a government grant of Rs 8.5 crore, which was not audited. Mann said that though no names had been mentioned, it appeared he himself and Bindra seemed to be targetted.

Bindra said Khanna had wrongly claimed the PCA was a commercial organisation, pointing out that the Supreme Court had ruled that cricket associations were not commercial set-ups and were exempted from paying income-tax.

"Whatever we earn is put back in the organisation," Bindra said, adding that the maintenance cost of the stadium was Rs 2.5 lakh per month.

Mann said the entire dealings in the deal were conducted in a transparent manner with the decision being taken by the then governor Lt Gen O P Malhotra. Bindra said every detail had been cleared at the highest level, with former chief minister Beant Singh describing it as a legacy and present Chief Minister Harcharan Singh Brar praising the high standards achieved in building the stadium.

Mann even charged that former chief secretary V K Khanna had deliberately withheld the two files to facilitate the CBI to register the cases. He said that when, after joining, when he heard that cases were being filed against some officers, he sought the files. ``I was told that Khanna had taken them with him after relinquishing office.''

It took many visits before Khanna handed Bikramjit Singh's file to the present chief minister on February 23, Mann said, adding that Khanna had promised to hand over the other file in a week.

Mann said the CBI did not have the jurisdiction to investigate cases against state government officers unless the state government expressed a desire to do so through a notification. He said as the earlier notification had been rescinded, the CBI had no power to pursue the cases.