New Delhi: In a major relief for former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh the Supreme Court on Monday struck down the order of the Punjab Assembly to expel him as a MLA from the 13th Vidhan Sabha.
The apex court has directed the restoration of Amarinder Singh as a MLA from Patiala. Amarinder was expelled from the Assembly during the Prakash Singh Badal regime for alleged involvement in a multi-crore rupee land scandal in Amritsar.
The former chief minister was expelled from the house on September 3, 2008 for breach of privilege after a resolution was passed on the basis of the report of a special committee appointed by the Punjab assembly on the alleged irregularities.
The report alleged he had granted illegal exemption to certain developers causing a loss of over several crores of rupees to the exchequer.
The scam relates to grant of exemption on 32.5 acres of land in a prime area by Amrinder as chief minister to certain land developers allegedly in violation of the rules.
The special committee held Amrinder and two other Congress leaders Jagjit Singh Chaudhary and Jugal Kishore Sharma Guilty in the scam and recommended registration of an FIR and their custodial interrogation.
He was expelled for the remaining term of the 13th Assembly and the Election Commission was asked to declare his seat vacant for enabling a by-poll to Patiala constituency represented by the 67-year-old Congress leader.
The apex court had earlier stayed the committee's recommendation to the Election Commission for declaring the seat vacant.
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