HC grants state last chance to file reply in City Centre case

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 17

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday granted the state and other respondents a last chance to submit their reply on petitions challenging a Ludhiana court’s decision to permit the Enforcement Directorate to inspect judicial file in the Ludhiana City Centre case. 

Fixing January 23 as the next date of hearing, the Bench made it clear that it would decide the matter after hearing arguments if the reply was not submitted by then. 

Taking up the matter, the Bench also ordered the continuation of stay on the operation of the order passed by Ludhiana Special Judge on October 25 permitting the Enforcement Directorate to inspect the court file.

The developments before Justice Inderjit Singh’s Bench took place on petitions filed by Bhupinder Singh Basant and Delhi-based Chetan Gupta, who moved the High Court demanding stay on ED inspection among other things. The counsel for the petitioners, senior advocate JS Bedi, argued that the ED was not a party in the case and could not be allowed to inspect the case file. The case was between the Punjab Vigilance Bureau and the accused. The Enforcement Directorate in the matter was represented by Additional Solicitor-General of India Chetan Mittal. 

The vigilance bureau on August 19, 2017, had filed a closure report before the court concerned claiming that there was no scam at all and that proof was not found against Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, his son Raninder Singh and others following “reinvestigation”.

The petitioner had moved the court after the special court in Ludhiana on October 25 permitted the Directorate to inspect the case file.