Chandigarh (Haryana) [India], June 15 (ANI): Former Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal will not appear before a Special Investigation Team (SIT) on June 16 for questioning in connection with the Kotkapura police firing case.
The Akali Dal patron has asked the SIT to reschedule the date for appearance as he is not keeping good health and “has been advised complete bed rest for 10 days by doctors.”
The summon was issued on Sunday in which the prove agency had asked him to appear before it on June 16.
In a statement issued on Monday, Badal said: “As soon as my health gets better, I will be available to join the investigation as per law, at my current place of residence.”
He hoped “this SIT, unlike the previous one, would respect the law of the land and conduct a fair investigation, withstanding political interference from the ruling dispensation” which, he said, had been brazenly subverting the law for petty political gains.”
In his two-page response to the summon from the SIT investigating the handling of Kotkapura incidents by the previous government, Badal said that “The entire process of investigations already stands brazenly compromised through blatant and unapologetic political interference and it reeks too strongly of political vendetta to inspire any confidence about a fair process of law being followed.”
He assured that he will “cooperate fully” with the investigative process.
The former CM further referred to reports that said that the findings of the previous SIT had been scripted jointly by half a dozen high profile members of the ruling party.” These reports, he said had never been contradicted.
In Kotkapura police firing incident, police opened fire at people protesting against the desecration of Guru Granth Sahib in Faridkot in 2015. (ANI)
