Chandigarh, June 28
Punjab minister Harjot Singh Bains on Tuesday accused the previous Congress regime of providing “VIP treatment” to gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari when he was lodged at Rupnagar jail in the state, leading to heated exchanges between him and leader of opposition Partap Singh Bajwa.
Bains, the mines and geology and jails minister, was speaking during the ongoing budget session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha here.
He alleged that Ansari was kept in Rupnagar jail for two years and three months after a “fake” FIR was lodged against him.
“He (Ansari) was given VIP treatment and his wife stayed with him. Five star facilities were given to him,” the minister told the House.
“It is a serious issue. I am a jails minister and I came across a case in which gangster Mukhtar Ansari was kept in jail for two years and three months in Rupnagar jail,” he said.
The minister said the Uttar Pradesh government had to move the Supreme Court to get Ansari’s custody.
He further said senior lawyers were engaged to “save” Ansari by the then state government and the fee of a lawyer was Rs 11 lakh for appearing in the case.
He also claimed a bill of Rs 55 lakh on account of fee of the advocates.
“Why should we give the bill of Rs 55 lakh for keeping a gangster? I have ordered for registration of FIR in the case,” Bains added.
Leader of Opposition and Congress MLA Partap Singh Bajwa, however, objected to raising this issue during the budget discussion.
Bajwa asked Bains to prove that Ansari’s wife stayed in the jail. “Can you prove that his (Ansari) wife stayed in jail? If you cannot prove it, then you will have to resign,” he told Bains.
The Congress leader also asked the Speaker, “Should we deviate from the budget discussion?”
“Then we should speak on gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, in which jail he was kept and the Tihar jail comes under whom?” he said, taking on the treasury benches.
The custody of Mukhtar Aansari was handed over to the Uttar Pradesh police in April last year to transfer him to Banda prison. Ansari was kept at Punjab’s Rupnagar jail where he had been lodged since January 2019 in connection with an extortion case.
The Supreme Court had directed the Punjab government to hand over the custody of Ansari to the Uttar Pradesh police, saying the same was being denied on trivial grounds under the guise of medical issues.
‘VIP’ treatment given to Mukhtar Ansari in jail under previous Cong regime: Punjab Jails Minister
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