Report on drugs to see light of day after over 2 yrs delay: Sidhu
Darpan News Desk IANS, 05 Oct, 2021 11:29 AM
Chandigarh, Oct 5 (IANS) With a new special bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to start hearing in the multi-crore drug racket case concerning Punjab on Tuesday, Congress leader Navjot Sidhu said a report by the Special Task Force (STF) on drugs will finally see light of day after two and a half years of delay.
"Today, STF Report on Drugs will finally see light of day after 2.5 yrs of delay in sealed covers, court naming main culprits behind drug trade will be first victory for youth & suffering mothers of Punjab," Sidhu tweeted.
"Hope they are given punishment that acts as a deterrent for generations!!"
The case was assigned to the division bench of Justices A.G. Masih and Ashok Kumar Verma. Earlier, the case was being heard by the bench of Justices Rajan Gupta and Ajay Tewari but the latter recused himself from hearing the case on September 1.
The new bench will take up an application seeking that the high court "may open" a report submitted in a sealed cover.
The application has been filed by advocate Navkiran Singh, pleading that the report contains the response of Punjab on a report submitted by then STF chief Harpreet Sidhu, who was asked by the high court to go through the report submitted by Enforcement Directorate Assistant Director Niranjan Singh.
In his maiden speech after assuming charge here, Sidhu, who shared the stage with Chief Minister Amarinder Singh after a long break, also extended an olive branch to the protesting doctors, nurses, teachers and bus conductors, who have been on roads for their demands.
Addressing the media outside Parliament, Rahul Gandhi said, "Pegasus is classified by the Israeli State as a weapon and that weapon is supposed to be used against the terrorist. The Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) and Union Home Minister have used this weapon against the Indian State and against our institutions."
The numbers of key separatist leaders, politicians, human rights activists, journalists and business persons from Kashmir all figure in the snoop dragnet.
The accused has been identified as Manoj Kumar Prabhakar, a native of Bihar's Supaul district. According to the officials of the flying squad, they had received information about a man creating fake PAN, Aadhaar and voter cards to make money illegally.
In a statement on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of economic liberalisation, he said that on this day 30 years ago, in 1991, the Congress "ushered in significant reforms of India's economy and paved a new path for the nation's economic policy".
