Congress demands police case against Punjab minister

The Punjab Congress Wednesday demanded registration of a police case against state cabinet minister and senior BJP leader Anil Joshi and his family members for allegedly committing forgery and having dual votes at two places.

In a statement issued Wednesday, state Congress vice president O.P. Soni and other leaders said the Election Commission had asked the Amritsar election returning officer to file a criminal case against Joshi and his family members, but the Amritsar deputy commissioner opted to file a complaint in the court of chief judicial magistrate.

"It was an attempt to save the accused minister. An offence under Section 31 of Representation of People Act is non-cognizable offence and would require immediate arrest of the accused people. Police should do custodial interrogation," the Congress leaders said.

"Joshi fabricated documents to enrol at two places and he should also be booked for cheating and conspiracy. The deputy commissioners of Amritsar and Tarn Taran should also be booked for destroying evidence. The deputy commissioners, who are also the election returning officers, had given the report to the Election Commission that documents submitted by Joshi were not traceable," the statement said.

The Congress leaders also accused Punjab's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) V.K. Singh of "soft peddling" the issue.

"He should issue specific orders to register FIR in the police station. The judicial process would be long and accused being influential person might influence the witnesses. The complainants against Joshi are already getting threats from BJP leaders," they said.

The leaders demanded the dismissal of Joshi from the Punjuab government.