Day after VB raids, Cong ex-MLA booked under Excise Act

| | Chandigarh
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Day after VB raids, Cong ex-MLA booked under Excise Act

Wednesday, 15 March 2023 | PNS | Chandigarh

A day after Punjab Vigilance Bureau raided the residence and other properties of an IAS-turned-Congress leader Kuldeep Singh Vaid in connection with a disproportionate assets case, the Ludhiana police on Tuesday booked the former Congress MLA from Gill segment after nearly 90 liquor bottles were recovered during search.

The first information report (FIR) has been registered under sections 61, 1 and 14 of the Punjab Excise Act after recovering at least 90 bottles of liquor, including whiskey, scotch, wine, and champagne, from Vaid’s residence.

The police verified two permits, produced by Vaid’s son Harkarandeep Singh on the spot. The officials found that he possessed 16 bottles more than the permissible limits under the issued permits. The excess liquor recovered from the house costs Rs 4.10 lakh in the open market, read the FIR, adding that some bottles were meant for sale only in Chandigarh but kept illegally in Punjab.

The FIR stated that among the 90 bottles, 25 were imported whiskey or scotch (19,440 ml in total), besides 17 other imported bottles were open. Twenty locally made bottles of whisky or scotch (meant for sale in Punjab), eight unsealed bottles, and 20 bottles of wine or champagne were also among the recovered.

As per the FIR, Harkarandeep Singh Vaid produced two permits — one in the name of his father and the other in his own name — but “as per rule 22-A of Punjab Liquor Permit and Pass Rules, one permit holder can keep 24 bottles (750 ml each), 48 bottles beer, and 24 bottles wine”.

The case was registered a day after the state Vigilance team from Chandigarh raided Vaid’s residence in Ludhiana and a nearby cafe, which is believed to be run by his son. It has been learnt that the VB may also soon launch raids at Vaid’s other properties. The raids were part of the probe against Vaid for acquiring properties and assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

Vaid is the latest among several Punjab Congress leaders coming under the VB scanner, with already Congress’ three former Ministers — Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, and Sham Sunder Arora — behind bars in corruption cases.

A 1992-batch Punjab Civil Service (PCS) officer, who was upgraded to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 2007, Vaid was Moga Deputy Commissioner and Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA) additional chief administrator during service.

Vaid, who resigned as an IAS to contest 2017 assembly elections, won from Ludhiana’s Gill constituency on the Congress ticket, however, lost to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Jiwan Singh Sanghowal in 2022 polls.

Now, VB summons Vijay Singla

Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) on Tuesday summoned former Minister and Sangrur’s former MP Vijay Inder Singla for allegedly having assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. With this, Singla became the seventh former Minister under the VB scanner for having disproportionate assets, has been summoned to the Bureau’s Sangrur office on Thursday.

It has been learnt that an inquiry pertaining to disproportionate assets was started against Singla three months ago, and this is the first time when he has been asked to appear for questioning.

Singla was elected Sangrur MP in 2009, but lost to Bhagwant Mann in 2014. In 2017 state assembly polls, Singla won from Sangrur constituency and become a Cabinet Minister in the Capt Amarinder Singh-led Congress government, and served as the state’s Education and PWD Minister.

 

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