Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Sunday demanded immediate cancellation of licenses of two seed companies accused of engineering the multi-crore inter-state Seed Scam which had affected the livelihood of farmers of Punjab and neighbouring States.

“Following complaints and protests by farmers in Jalandhar and other places, the State Agriculture Department had started taking action against few seed stores for selling spurious seeds of PR-128 and PR-129 paddy variety to farmers. However, no concrete action has been taken against Brar Seeds, Ludhiana, and Karnal Agri Seeds, Dera Baba Nanak, despite the fact that their involvement in multi-crore seed scam had come to light on May 11 when the Agriculture Department got an FIR registered in the case,” said senior SAD leaders Balwinder Singh Bhundur and Sikander Singh Maluka.

They said that it was clear that that the accused are being given political shelter and this is why the police are not taking action against them.

They demanded immediate suspension of the licenses of Ludhiana seed store as well as Dera Baba Nanak based seed producer. They also demanded custodial interrogation of the proprietors of both managements to unravel the Seed Scam and expose those who had patronized the scamsters.

“It is shameful that despite the fact that Cabinet Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa’s name has cropped up in the scam and his proximity to Karnal Seed’s proprietor Lucky Dhillon had been highlighted, the Government is yet to order an independent inquiry into the case. In fact, the way the Government is proceeding in the matter, it seems the accused are being given ample time to move incriminating evidence out of their premises as well as doctor their records,” they added.

Both leaders also asked why the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh was not intervening in the matter despite the fact that people were openly claiming that “no action is being taken against the scamsters because they enjoy political patronage”.

The Chief Minister should forward the case to the CBI for an inquiry or entrust its probe to a sitting judge of the High Court, they demanded.

The leaders asked the farmers, who had suffered due to massive scam engineered with political patronage, to file complaints with the State Agriculture Department as well as the Police.

They also demanded that the Agriculture Department immediately supply the farmers with alternative seed besides compensating them for the losses incurred by them by buying the spurious seed at the rate of Rs 200 per kg against the controlled rate of Rs 70 per kg at which PAU Ludhiana had sold its seed stock to farmers through Krishi Vigyan Kendras.