This Article is From Sep 03, 2018

AAP Ultimatum For Parkash Badal's Arrest A "Political Gimmick": Akali Dal

Mr Phoolka gave the ultimatum to cabinet ministers including Navjot Singh Sidhu, asking them to get a case of murder registered against Parkash Singh Badal and retired DGP Sumedh Singh Saini.

AAP Ultimatum For Parkash Badal's Arrest A 'Political Gimmick': Akali Dal

Akali Dal said the warning was a "political gimmick to derive political mileage out Punjab"

Chandigarh:

Opposition Shiromani Akali Dal on Sunday dubbed AAP leader HS Phoolka's 15-day ultimatum to the Punjab government to arrest former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal for police firing incidents at Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan a "political gimmick".

Mr Phoolka gave the ultimatum to cabinet ministers Sukhjinder Randhawa, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Charanjit Singh Channi, Manpreet Singh Badal and Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa on Saturday, asking them to get a case of murder registered against Mr Badal and retired DGP Sumedh Singh Saini.

He vowed to resign if the Congress-led government failed to book the duo.

In a statement, the Shiromani Akali Dal said Mr Phoolka's warning was a "political gimmick to derive political mileage out of troubled waters of Punjab."

The party also demanded that the license of the Aam Aadmi Party leader, who is also a lawyer, should be revoked.

"Phoolka is a senior advocate of the Supreme Court and his license should be revoked by the Bar Council of India immediately for making unconstitutional and illegal demand to register cases on the basis of a fabricated, concocted tailor-made report prepared at behest of the Congress party..," SAD spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema said in the statement.

He said the state government "cannot register any case against Mr Badal on the basis of (Justice) Ranjit Singh Commission report which is a bundle of conjectures, assumptions and far-fetched deductions (and) which are unlikely to stand legal scrutiny for a day."

Justice (retd) Ranjit Singh Commission was set up by the Congress government in April 2017 to investigate the various incidents of sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib and other religious texts.

It dealt with incidents at village Burj Jawahar Singh Wala, Bargari and firing incidents at Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan in 2015.

Mr Cheema alleged that Mr Phoolka and the Aam Aadmi Party "worked hand in glove with the ruling Congress to defame Mr Badal..."

According to the report, Mr Badal, the then chief minister of Punjab, and Saini were "aware" of the proposed police action to disperse the protesters at Kotkapura in Faridkot by using force.

It held that the police opened fire in Behbal Kalan, in which two people were killed, "without any warning and without taking permission from civil authorities".

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