Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had state health minister Vijay Singla from his cabinet on corruption charges and soon after he was arrested by the police.
Singla was taken to the Phase VII police station in Mohali. An FIR number 65 under Sections 7 and 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against Vijay Singla. He was later presented before the court of Ravtesh Inderjit Singh, which sent him to a 3-day police remand till May 27.
Earlier, Mann said that “A case was brought to my notice that a minister in my Cabinet was seeking 1 per cent commission for each tender and purchase related to his department. Only I knew about this case, neither the media nor the opposition had an idea about it. Had I wanted, I would have covered it up. And had I done so, I would have not only failed my conscience but also the lakhs of people who trusted me”.
“I am taking strong action against him. I am sacking him from my Cabinet and directing the Police to take action against him. He has confessed to this crime” he added. The Punjab Chief Minister’s Office claimed it had obtained “concrete evidence” that Singla had demanded1 per cent commission from officials for awarding contracts.
AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal tweeted he was proud of Bhagwant Mann for his decision. “Proud of you Bhagwant. Ur action has brought tears to my eyes. Whole nation today feels proud of AAP,” Kejriwal tweeted.
Singla is a dentist who won the recent assembly election from the Mansa constituency by a margin of over 63,000 votes against Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu Moosewala, a popular Punjabi singer who contested on a Congress ticket.
