The ruling Akali-BJP and Congress leaders have united to support the move as they have nothing to lose but the ongoing corruption cases against some of their top leaders including Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, his son Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, Assembly Speaker Nirmal Singh Kahlon and the former Congress Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh. The main argument in support of the move is that “by withdrawing the cases, the political atmosphere in Punjab will become very cordial which will be beneficial for the all-round development of the state to begin a new era”.

No doubt, the claimed objective behind the move is laudable. But it has wider political, legal-administrative and ethical implications. Saying that cases of political vendetta against each other should be withdrawn is virtual admission of the fact that when in power both the Congress and Akali-BJP leaderships practiced politics of political vendetta, something which they have been persistently denying.

Nobody can dispute the need for creating a cordial political atmosphere in Punjab. But will the withdrawal of corruption cases alone bring about such an atmosphere? While it is desirable that the opposition parties give up the doctrine of opposing for the sake of opposition, no opposition party can survive if it does not take up public causes which usually prompt it to launch campaigns against the government. Such agitations invariably lead to confrontation between the ruling party and the opposition inviting police action against the agitators.

The goal of working for all-round development of the state largely depends on how the government and the opposition respond to the people's problems. Withdrawing corruption and disproportionate assets cases against the ruling class leaders is no way “to ensure all-round development of a state and beginning of a new era”. Helped by the vast reach of the media, the politically awakened “aam aadmi” can distinguish between cases of political vendetta and corruption. Such cases should be left to the courts to decide and not to the whims of legislators whose vested political and economic interests always influence their decisions.

One must give credit to Capt. Amarinder Singh for taking a correct stand by rejecting the move of both ruling and opposition members of the Assembly for withdrawing criminal cases registered out of political vendetta against prominent politicians. Describing the move a “big farce”, he says, “it will be a mockery of the law if the House finally decides to withdraw the cases on its own. This will provide a blanket protection to politicians to indulge in unlawful activities, as they would get away with anything under the guise of political vendetta”. Amarinder's Singh's welcome stand is paradoxical in the background of the fact that it was he who started political vendetta by launching disproportionate assets cases against members of the Badal family and some other Akali leaders. After assuming power in 2007 the Badals also started political vendetta against Amarinder Singh and some of his family members as also against a large number of Congressmen. The corruption cases against the Badals and Amrinder Singh are still pending in the courts.

When corruption has become the principal avocation of most of our politicians, it is imperative not to be lenient towards the corrupt and allow them to escape the clutches of law. Although it is the judiciary which should finally determine the genuineness of the disproportionate assets cases, it often finds itself helpless in punishing the culprits. One's memory fails to recall how many of India's political leaders, if at all there are, have got punished in corruption cases. They manipulate legal processes either to delay the courts proceedings or wait for their return to power when they are able to make prosecution witnesses turn hostile. Many leaders of the country's national and regional parties facing corruption charges have used such methods to escape punishment.

It is against this backdrop that the ongoing high-profile corruption cases initiated by the Amarinder Singh-led Congress regime against the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, his wife Surinder Kaur Badal and his Deputy Chief Minister son Sukhbir Badal need to be seen. Over two-thirds of the 137 witnesses including Vigilance Bureau investigators have retracted from their statements. They include key prosecution witnesses from different government departments including police and PWD engineers who had assessed the Badals' assets during the investigation. The prosecution had dropped 52 of its witnesses last year but J.S. Kher, then Additional Sessions Judge of Mohali's trial court, recalled 38 of them for evidence. Kher was subsequently shifted from Mohali. By now, most of these 38 witnesses have turned hostile. All indications are that the case is set to fall flat.

Punjab has been witnessing paradoxical situations. By producing huge wheat and rice surpluses it has ensured food security for the country. But it is suffering from acute financial crunch and poor governance. The latest paradox is the oft-repeated promises by the state's leading political families of Capt. Amarinder Singh and Parkash Singh Badal to provide a corruption-free rule if the people gave them power. However, they are themselves involved in corruption cases. Dr. Joginder Dayal, a senior Punjab CPI leader aptly describes the situation created by the state's two leading political families “Let me loot now, let the next be your turn”.

Some one had said politics is about conferring legitimacy to the undeserving.(IPA Service)