Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 03 Jun, 2022 09:57 AM
New Delhi, June 3 (IANS) A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court by BJP Punjab leader Jagjit Singh seeking CBI investigation in the cold-blooded murder of famous Punjabi rap singer Sidhu Moosewala.
The plea, filed through advocate-on-record Namit Saxena and advocates Sarthak Chaturvedi and Shubham Jaiswal, submitted that there is a storm of fear and terror in Punjab, which warrants interference by the Supreme Court as fundamental rights of entire population of Punjab have been jeopardised at large.
Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, known by his stage name 'Sidhu Moosewala', was shot dead in broad daylight on May 29 by unknown assailants. The plea said he was a young artist of just 28 years of age, who became globally famous by performing a niche art of Punjabi rap.
"The brutal murder of Sidhu Moosewala is a glaring example where the conscience of the community at large has been shocked and people of Punjab are confident that no effective investigation will be done by the state, rather it will try to cover up its failure by removing the security cover and the incident deserves to be investigated by a central agency," said the plea.
The plea said on the next day of the murder, names of gangsters such as Lawrence Bishnoi and Goldy Brar started coming into play when they took the responsibility of killing the deceased. "That also the present facts of the case involve not only inter-state but also international crime syndicates and it is expedient in the interests of justice if the investigation related to the present FIR is transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation," added the plea.
The petitioner contended it is also important to bear in mind that it is not arcane knowledge that Punjab is ridden with the menace of drugs and gun culture. "The state has unfortunately not ridden itself from the movement of separatists seeking establishment of Khalistan and therefore possibility of involvement of separatists in the murder also cannot be ruled out. The matter at hand deserves investigation by a central agency such as the CBI," it added.
The plea argued that the CBI being a central agency, has a far more reach and jurisdiction than the state authorities and the same would also help the state authorities, the justice they seek.
The plea said the way the cold blooded killing was done in broad daylight is indicative of the fact that the state machinery in Punjab has miserably failed in its duty not only to prevent the crime but also to effectively curb the menace of gangwars.
Singh had contested from Sardurgarh seat on a BJP ticket in the recently-conducted Punjab polls.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Tuesday gave a clarion call for the establishment of a truly federal structure in the country, with genuine cultural, political and economic autonomy to states. It also announced to implement a Rs 50,000 per acre crop insurance scheme, besides commitment to revive the pre-2004 pension scheme for government employees.
In order to provide constructed houses to the economically weaker section (EWS) across the state, the Punjab Cabinet on Tuesday approved invitation of applications for allotment of 25,000 houses to be constructed by urban development authorities. The decision was taken during a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Charanjit Channi here.
On October 3, eight people, including four protesting farmers, had died when a SUV belonging to Ashish Mishra had mowed them down on the outskirts of Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh. One local journalist had died in the ensuing violence.
Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) chief Amarinder Singh on Tuesday warned Punjab Police officials against intimidating his party workers at the behest of some local Congress leaders. The former Chief Minister was reacting to reports of Punjab cops stopping PLC workers, who were putting up posters in the Malwa region.
Before the account was restored, a tweet was shared with a URL on PM Modi's timeline which read, "India has officially adopted bitcoin as legal tender. The government has officially bought 500 BTC and is distributing them to all residents of the country."
Though farmers have suspended their agitation and have returned home, the BJP is still treading cautiously and opposition is leaving no chance to attack it on the issue. The farmers have returned to their homes after suspending the 15-month-long agitation, post the government repealing the three farm laws and agreeing to certain demands.
