AAP delegation meets CEO on transfer of Kanwar Vijay Partap Singh

Chandigarh, April 10

A delegation of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday met the chief election officer, Punjab, urging him, through a communication, to review and revoke the order divesting him of the SIT chief.

May it be known  that Kunwar Pratap Singh, IGP, a member of the SIT investigating into the killings of innocent people post the sacrilegious incidents of Sri Guru Granth Sahib in the year 2015, had been divested of the high profile SIT assignment, which the delegation dubbed as a dictatorial decision on the part of the dispensation.

The delegation, through its representation, said that the order dated April 5, 2019, purported to have been issued by the Election Commission of India in this regard, had invited strong repercussion from the state.

The representation further said that the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, who was heading the probe panel to look into the incidents in  which two persons protesting against the desecration of Sri Guru Granth Sahib were got killed in police firing when SAD government was in power.

The AAP leaders said that the IGP was transferred for his reported violating the Model Code of Conduct for giving interview to a news channel regarding the probe being conducted by the SIT alleging that the interview was politically motivated, which, the delegation said, was not strong base for the transfer, which it alleged would hamper the probe.

The delegation further added that the order commensurate neither to the alleged violation nor did any justice to the people of Punjab for the best known reasons. The dictatorial decision smacked of mala fide and sounded vague and inappropriate.

The delegation said that the order had undermined the authority of the SIT and its officer working hard to being the facts to the fore.  The decision, AAP delegation said,  of relieving Kunwar Vijay Pratap from his duty from probing the killings of innocent people, showed that the ECI had acted at the behest of the Akali-BJP leaders, who, it said, were behind delaying it further.

The delegation accused the SAD-BJP Government for delaying and derailing the investigation and said that now through directions from ECI sought transfer an important officer was an attempt to further impact the investigations, which might have serious ramifications on the minds of the people of Punjab.

The leaders said had there been a breach of the Model Code of Conduct, a simple reprimand  to the officer allegedly indulging in such activity would have been enough or at the most some disciplinary action could have been recommended instead of relieving the officer and forcing the State Government to replace the officer.

The delegation demanded that the order on the transfer of  Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, performing his duty as a SIT Member be reviewed keeping in view the  interest of justice and fair play.