Chandigarh, December 9
The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) has demanded a high-level probe under the supervision of the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court into the drug money trail to track down the powerful end beneficiaries. In a two-page letter written in this regard to the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, which has also been posted by Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar on X, the latter mentioned, “I am writing to you with hope and caution to draw your attention towards the criticalness of an urgent probe under the direct supervision of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Sheel Nagu to track down the mighty and powerful end beneficiaries in the drug money trail, which is the primary source that has tormented Punjab.”
The letter further reads, “This is important if your government wants to establish its credibility and resolve in its fight against drugs. It would thus be appropriate if you as chief minister write to the honorable Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice seeking his intervention to set up a ‘time-bound’ probe by a credible agency, or even a multi-agency probe, under his supervision to uncover the end beneficiaries in the drug money trail.”
Pointing out that it is imperative to ‘follow the money’ in the drug money trail, without which the exercise to root out drugs from Punjab is not only futile but a farce as well. “Arresting thousands of drug addicts and small players will not make much difference. The ‘elephant in the room’ has to be addressed. The flow of money has to be established to catch the big fish and arrest the end beneficiaries, be it politicians across party lines or officials. The drug cartels in Punjab cannot thrive without some or the other kind of patronage.”
Jakhar also wrote that the recovery of narcotics in Punjab goes into several thousands of crores of rupees underlies the rot that exists, while adding, “At the same time fortunes of several Punjab politicians have turned in the last few years which can not be dismissed as mere coincidence. It raises a lot of stench and suspicion on the source of funding. The MLAs who would come on bicycles now own luxury cars worth over crores. Many have farm houses spread over many acres. Since the quantum of money involved in drug money trail is colossally huge, it reeks of money laundering which can be probed by the Enforcement Directorate, or as deemed fit by the Chief Justice, since money laundering could be huge and involving the high and mighty.”
The BJP State President also said that the Ministers, MLAs, party presidents, party in-charge and leaders of all hues should be a part of the investigation by the agency. “Merely by filing mandatory Income Tax returns does not end the chapter. I as the state BJP president offer myself to be the first to be probed as a mark of my and my party’s sincerity and earnestness”, the letter reads.
Jakhar however added that it is prudent that the role of the Judiciary and the Executive remain separate and independent, which is why there is an urgent need that you seek the intervention of the Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court under whose supervision this probe to establish the flow of money in the drug money trail can be initiated. “Not just drug money trail, the probe should also include in its scope the trail of illicit money from mining and sand mafia so that the guilty can be brought to the book”, the letter concluded.
