Former Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi is back in business after spending nearly seven months abroad. Sources said Channi is on the radar of the Vigilance Bureau over his absence after Congress’s defeat in the Punjab elections.
Former Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi is back in business after spending nearly seven months abroad.
On his return, Congress leader Channi tweeted a photo in which he was seen presenting a bouquet to Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and congratulating her for “the party’s historic victory in Himachal Pradesh polls”.
No sooner than Channi landed in New Delhi on December 15, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann‘s office started dusting off nearly 150 files, which, according to the sources, were on hold for the last seven months.
Sources close to the CMO told India Today that many decisions taken by the Charanjit Singh Channi government from September 20, 2021, to March 12, 2022, are under the scanner. Bhagwant Mann was skeptical about these decisions and did not clear the files after he assumed the charge in March this year. He had kept all the files with him.
“Why did he (Channi) run away? It means he must have done something wrong. He should have stayed here. Some decisions were taken near the end of the term. I want to ask him about many files which he signed during the last days of his government,” Bhagwant Mann said while addressing the Punjab Assembly recently.
As per the sources, Mann wants clarifications from Channi on various decisions which were allegedly taken in haste.
When asked, AAP spokesperson Malwinder Singh Kang confirmed that Channi would be questioned as and when required.
“Corruption cases were reported in many departments when Channi was the chief minister. Many of the former ministers and his cabinet colleagues have already been arrested. All those who were at the helm of affairs will be questioned,” Kang said, while adding that Channi should clarify why he suddenly vanished after Congress was defeated in the elections. He further said that there was something wrong at the bottom which compelled him to leave the country.
‘Decisions taken were in black and white’
Despite the speculations that Vigilance Bureau was planning to question Channi, no case has been registered against him so far.
Sources said Channi was already on the radar of state vigilance bureau following the arrest of his nephew Bhupinder Singh Honey by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in February this year. He was arrested on charges of money laundering and illicit mining. The controversy put Channi on the backfoot during the Punjab polls.
Channi was questioned by ED officials in Jalandhar on April 14 for nearly six hours.He had confirmed this in a tweet. Sources said that ED did not find anything suspicious against Channi. That’s why he was not questioned again.
“The decisions taken by me as the Chief Minister were in black and white. Mann can call me anytime he wants,” Channi had said when he was in Canada.
Channi under attack from Opposition
Even while Charanjit Singh Channi has clarified that he was on a health tour and was working on his doctorate thesis, the opposition parties sought detailed clarification from him as to why and where he was hiding during the past months.
Many cases of corruption were reported during his tenure. I am aware that he can be summoned. Congress is a party of corruption and scams. Channi will have to pay the price for wrongdoings,” BJP General Secretary Bikramjit Singh Cheema said.
Reacting to Charanjit Singh Channi’s appearance in Bharat Jodo Yatra, Shiromani Akali Dal General Secretary Dr Daljit Singh Cheema, while talking to India Today, said that the Punjab government should not indulge in a witch-hunt and should act on the basis of evidence only.
