Punjab Minister Bikram Singh Majithia was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with alleged money laundering in a drug racket case (Press Trust of India file photo)
Just days after a minister in the Punjab government, Bikram Majithia, was interrogated about a drug racket worth thousands of crores, the main officer handling the investigation was transferred. Niranjan Singh told a court today that removing him from the case damages the investigation at a crucial stage, and that the two officers assigned to replace him in the inquiry have no experience in handling a case of money-laundering.
Mr Singh's removal has been challenged by a Public Interest Litigation or PIL. His testimony was shared in the Punjab and Haryana High Court today; it unreservedly contradicts the Enforcement Directorate's claim that Mr Singh's removal from the case is not a cause of concern.
The court has in the past expressed its dissatisfaction with Mr Singh's transfer to Kolkata from the Jalandhar office of the Enforcement Directorate.
In 2013, the Punjab police uncovered a scam worth an estimated 6,000 crores centred on chemicals being diverted from the medical sector and smuggled to Canada where they were processed into synthetic drugs. The Enforcement Directorate then began a separate inquiry to study charges of money-laundering. Late last year Mr Singh, as the main investigator, questioned Revenue Minister Bikram Majithia who was accused by members of the drug cartel of close links to NRI drug peddlers.
Mr Majithia is a relative of Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal's son, Sukhbir, who is No 2 in the state government. He has denied any wrongdoing.
The transfer of government officers taking on influential and powerful opponents has become a national debate. Last week, Ashok Khemka, a senior bureaucrat in Haryana, was transferred for the 45th time in 24 years; he suggested he was being punished for taking on the transport lobby. Mr Khemka's move was described as routine by the ruling BJP. He had also clashed with the earlier Congress government for alleging that the party allowed sweetheart land deals to Robert Vadra, the son-in-law of Congress president Sonia Gandhi.