Don't browbeat bureaucracy and police: Punjab Govt to Cong

"Congress should not browbeat the bureaucracy and police and should not interfere in the process of law in the case of minor girl," Chief Minister's media advisor Harcharan Singh Bains told reporters here.

He said he will seek legal opinion from the state's Advocate General (AG) on whether Congress leaders could be booked under relevant sections of the IPC by projecting a case of elopment as rape. "The Congress tried to mislead the investigations by distorting facts," he alleged.

He asked the Congress and its top state leaders, including former Chief minister Amarinder Singh, to "stop" interfering in the process of law and functioning of police.

"Stop defaming the state on the minor girl's case," he told the Congress.

"The Congress is violating the state's culture and heritage by using the minor girl as a tool for their vested interests and to gain political mileage," he alleged.

On the recent verbal duel between Amarinder and Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini, Bains said that "it was unbecoming of a political leader of the stature of Amarinder...Instead of throwing mud on uniform he should introspect."

He lambasted Amarinder for "stooping so low" by attacking officers of the state government.

"This is not a government where officers rule, here the rule is of the people," he said advising Amarinder to speak to Chief Minister if he had any problem.

On Saini's remarks, he said that "the officers have the constitutional right to clarify their position."

However, he said that it was against "political dignity" to attack an officer. "This (Amarinder's accusations against Saini) sets a wrong precedent," he added. MORE