Punjab minister strongly objects to probe ordered by Navjot Sidhu

Chandigarh, Feb 22 (IANS) Friction between two cabinet ministers in Punjab was out in the open on Friday with one minister openly questioning how the other ordered an inquiry involving him in a prime land controversy in Ludhiana.

The two ministers involved in the controversy include Punjab Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu and Food and Civil Supplies Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu.

Sidhu on Friday ordered "stringent action against the officers guilty of wilful disobedience of the orders issued by him on July 7, 2018, regarding keeping the matter of according approval to Plan 98-C of the Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana in abeyance and sending the CLU case further ahead by forging the documents".

The minister has directed the Principal Secretary of the department to take prompt action in the Ludhiana change of land use (CLU) matter.

Reacting strongly to the probe ordered by Sidhu, cabinet minister Ashu in an official statement on Friday said: "I have nothing to do with the building in the present controversy. However, I will like Sidhu to explain how my name got included in the enquiry. If he finds any merit in it, let him report it to honorable CM, but if there is any mischievous intention of any official to include my name deliberately in it, then let the official be penalized."

In a statement on Friday, Sidhu said that the orders concerning the probe were given by him and that the probe report has said the registry of the land whose CLU was approved was forged and 'khasra' numbers changed.

Sidhu pointed out that the CLU was applied for on January 17, 2018, in which the documents were forged.A

He said the registry of the land was done two days later on January 19, whereas it is mandatory to attach the registry papers at the time of applying for the CLU.

"This means that the applicant was not the owner of the land at the time of applying," Sidhu stated.