Simbhaoli Sugars: Capt claims charges against son-in-law unsubstantiated

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 26

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has flayed "attempts to politicise" the Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) case with "unsubstantiated" charges against his son-in-law, who is a minority shareholder with a mere 12.5% share in Simbhaoli Sugars, and was being unnecessarily dragged into the controversy.

In a statement issued here, the Chief Minister said as per information available with him, the alleged fraud, which was at the centre of the case, had been the subject matter of court proceedings before the DRT in a recovery suit filed by the bank, which was settled between the company and OBC, and was recorded by DRT, Lucknow, by way of a consent order dated March 16, 2015.

Further, the Chief Minister said he had been told that Gurpal Singh, who was a law-abiding citizen, had even refused to sign any documents to give any personal guarantee against the loan in question, forcing OBC to amend the loan document on February 12, 2015, thus waiving off the requirement of Gurpal Singh’s signature on any guarantee documents.

Political parties, including the BJP, were targeting Gurpal Singh only because of the Simbhaoli director’s personal relationship with him, said Captain Amarinder, lambasting them for making "baseless allegations without bothering to verify the facts, only to secure political mileage".

The fact was that Gurpal had actually been litigating against Simbhaoli Sugars, for his rights as Director and shareholder, before the National Company Law Tribunal, as he had been kept out of all major decisions and the working of the company, which was reportedly a matter of court record, said the Chief Minister, citing information received.

In the circumstances, and given these facts, the political attack on his son-in-law was ludicrous, Amarinder said, adding that even a cursory check of the case background would have revealed that Gurpal had no role in the entire affair.

It was evident that the issue was being deliberately sought to be politicised, with the farming community also being unnecessarily dragged into the whole affair, said Captain Amarinder.