Photo Source: Babushahi Bureau
I've won 50% battle in ED case, rest will be won in people's court on Feb 20, says Sukhpal Khaira
Babushahi Bureau
Chandigarh, January 28, 2022: Former Punjab MLA and Congress leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira who was granted regular bail by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday said that he had won 50% of the battle against the Enforcement Directorate (ED) case and he will win the rest in people's court on February 20, the day when the Assembly Elections are scheduled in the state.
"ED while raiding our premises on 09.03.21 had led loose a plethora of allegations targeting my father as an international drug kingpin, having fake passports, having illegal foreign currency/donations, amassing ill-gotten wealth through drug money, etc., has in its challan miserably failed to prove any of these charges and has assumed the role of a mere “Income Tax Inspector”," said Sukhpal Singh Khaira.
Khaira claimed that the challan contains no mention of illegal foreign funds to the tune of 1.19 lac USD collected by my father as alleged at the time of his arrest on 11.11.21.
"The web of concocted lies built by ED in its 80 pages challan only revolves around Rs. 3.82 crore difference between our income and expenditure from 01.04.2014 to 31.03.2020. The ED which claims to be the premier agency of India to prevent money laundering to the tune of thousands of crores has stooped to such a low level to investigate the wedding expenses of my daughter’s and my son’s of 2016 and 2019 respectively and small renovation of our Chandigarh house. Surprisingly while indicating a difference of 3.82 crores in our income and expenditure for a period of six years (2014 to 2020) the ED has wilfully and purposely ignored to include our two agricultural loan limit accounts of Union Bank of India and the regional Capital Bank Kapurthala to the tune of Rs. 2 crores raised by me for said weddings.Similarly, the ED did not take into account approximately Rs. 60 lac received during the said weddings, or loans raised by closed friends and relatives and most importantly our family agriculture income approx. Rs. 1.5 crore during these six years, which sufficiently explains the said difference between our income and expenditure of the said period of six years," Khaira added.
"To sum it up, the challan is nothing but a bundle of lies, a cheap attempt by ED to shoot a messenger, to gag the voice of a whistleblower, to harass our family, and to keep me out of the election frame. The challan also exposes the deep-rooted conspiracy between BJP and AAP as one of the reasons for my arrest on 11.11.21 was based on the utterly false statement of Pankaj Gupta AAP Secretary, who while deposing before ED in Delhi had accused me of collecting 1.19 lac USD.I have won my 50 percent battle against ED’s maliciously false and politically motivated case against me, the rest will be won in people’s court on 20th February and subsequently in the court of law during the trial," he added.
Khaira said he will continue his crusade against all kinds of injustice and corruption irrespective of such alleged cheap arm twisting methods adopted by the BJP through its puppet agency of ED or the politics of lies being pursued by AAP leadership in their quest for power.