Chandigarh Desk: Former Finance Minister of Punjab Manpreet Singh Badal has come on the radar of vigilance in Punjab which has summoned him to appear for questioning on Tuesday in a case related to fraudulently selling government property in Bathinda at cheaper prices, sources said. It is learnt that Badal has been summoned by the Vigilance unit Bathinda in the case.
Sources said that the Vigilance Bureau Bathinda has asked Badal to reach its office with the documentary evidence in his support. Badal has been accused of selling government property in Bathinda at a cheaper price and thereby causing huge losses to the government exchequer during his tenure as the Finance Minister of Punjab in the previous Congress government.
Also read: Former Punjab minister Manpreet Singh Badal joins BJP
Badal has also been accused of getting a commercial plot at a cheap price. The Vigilance Bureau summon to Badal comes on the complaint made by former Shiromani Ajkali Dal leader Sarup Chand Singla, who is now in the BJP. In his complaint, Singla has accused Badal of misusing his authority as the finance minister during the Congress government to get a commercial plot at “very cheap rates” to build his Bathinda house.
Pertinently, BJP leader Singla has also filed a complaint against Manpreet Badal for the “scam” in grain transportation. Singla has alleged that from 2017 to 2022, Badal looted the government treasury by creating fake companies in the name of his driver and guard for the transportation of wheat and paddy. The name of his relative Jojo also surfaced in the case.
The case is also being investigated by the Vigilance. Both Badal ahve Singla have quit their respective parties to join the BJP.