Congress leader Manpreet Singh Badal, who was accused of taking away government furniture worth lakhs from the official bungalow allotted to him as a minister, has dismissed ‘fake reports’ and produced bills of the valuables.
“False & incorrect information is being propagated about some “missing” items from the govt house that I recently vacated. No one contacted me for a fact-check or verification. Items number 9,10,11 & 23 were duly paid for while vacating the house as per the official price provided by the PWD department. And a cheque was deposited in the treasury,” Badal said, posting the bills on Twitter.
FACT : Items number 9,10,11 & 23 were duly paid for while vacating the house as per the official price provided by the PWD department. And a cheque was deposited in the treasury. Here is proof of the payment for all items. (2/2) pic.twitter.com/9kVZG3WVvN— Manpreet Singh Badal (@MSBADAL) April 3, 2022
Supporting Badal, his brother-in-law Jaijeet Singh Johal shared a video on Facebook rejecting social media buzz that the furniture reported missing by authorities was ‘antique’.
“I also want to clarify that the furniture has not been categorised as heritage but was renovated in 2008 when Manpreet Badal became the Finance minister. The furniture was repaired from a furniture shop by spending rupees 1.60 lakh,” Johal was quoted by India Today.
He claimed that the valuables in question – a dining table, ten dining table chairs, a service trolley and a recliner sofa – were restored in 2017 since they had not been in use for 15 years.
Besides valuables in house number 47, missing items in house number 960 are also under scanner, putting former revenue minister Gurpreet Kangar in the dock. The report stated that two refrigerators, five LED TVs, four oil-filled radiators, six room heaters and five pedestal fans worth over Rs 4.86 lakhs have been reported missing.
While the authorities have asked the minister to return the valuables, the minister has claimed he has yet to vacate the official residence.
The India Today report quoted an official of the Punjab PWD Department (B&R) as saying that there is a provision to recover the cost of the items from the allottee if the items are missing. Former minister Badal has, therefore, been issued a no dues certificate by the authorities concerned, the official added.
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