Punjab Assembly passes Bill to empower Vigilance Commission
Darpan News Desk IANS, 30 Sep, 2022 10:14 AM
Chandigarh, Sep 30 (IANS) Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday moved the Punjab State Vigilance Commission (Repeal) Bill, 2022, that was passed unanimously.
Moving a resolution to this regard, Mann said that the main function of the Punjab State Vigilance Commission is to enquire or cause enquires into complaints alleging commission of offences by a public servant under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988, Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018.
He said the commission is also empowered to exercise superintendence and control over the functioning of the Vigilance Bureau and police establishment in so far it relates to corruption cases
Mann said the Punjab State Vigilance Commission Act 2020, which was supposed to be enacted on the lines of the Central Vigilance Commission Act 2003, suffers from serious deviations.
The Chief Minister said the Vigilance Commission constituted under this Act is, therefore, not serving any useful objectives except being a burden on the state exchequer.
He said as there are multiple agencies in the state to deal with same set stakeholders, including full-fledged Vigilance Department.
Therefore, Mann said to avoid overlapping, contradictory findings, resultant delays and gaps in communication, it has become necessary to repeal the Punjab State Vigilance Commission Act 2020.
Lt Gen Aujla, an alumnus of the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, was commissioned in December 1987 and has had an illustrious military career spanning 35 years during which he has held varied prestigious command, staff and instructional appointments.
The area around the Intelligence Bureau office has been sealed and investigation is in progress. A bomb disposal and forensic squads have been positioned at the spot. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann spoke to Director General of Police V.K. Bhawra and sought details about the incident.
Notably, the police detained several people, including party workers, who were not allowing the SDMC to carry out the demolition drive at Shaheen Bagh. After the agitation was quelled, the bulldozer moved forward to demolish the illegal encroachment, an iron structure in front of a building. It is at this juncture that Khan reached the spot and was seen speaking to the officials.
Punjab shares a 553-km barbed-wire fenced international border with Pakistan which is under the vigil of nearly 135 BSF battalions. The drug network operates along the Afghanistan-Pakistan-India route.
Police are looking at this angle. The incident took place near Kengeri at 1 a.m. and the injured were shifted to nearby hospitals. According to the police, the bus had first hit the 4-feet tall road divider and then rammed into the Namma Metro Pillar number 545.
Chairing a meeting of the Special Task Force (STF) team led by its chief Harpreet Sidhu here, Mann said neither political persons nor officers would be spared if found conniving with the drug mafia. He told the police officers to work freely without any political pressure with a sharpened focus to make Punjab a drug-free state.
