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| After Taj, his friend may land in trouble | | 'Prima-facie guilty of contempt of SAC' | | bashir assad
Jammu, Dec 24. With the State Accountability Com-mission (SAC) deciding to initiate proceedings aga-inst senior Congress lea-der and Minister for Public Health Engineering Taj Mohi-ud-din for making a false statement, trouble for the minister seems to be unending because the voices for his resignation may go louder in the coming days. But as of now the opposition parties are keenly watching the developments and are tight lipped too, for, the matter being sub-judice.
However, what is even more interesting is the fact that a senior minister who happens to be his friend is also likely to land in trouble for giving a clean chit to the PHE minister in a recorded statement on the floor of the house while participating in the discussion on starred deferred question in the Business list of 11th October, 2012 when the Legislative council was in session at Srinagar.
Not only this, he has given reference of his statement in a letter addressed by him to Chairman Legislative Council, Amrit Malhotra vide No. PS/HM/ME, TE, YSS/12/1240 dated 07-11-2012. While requesting the Chairman for rescinding the orders for the constitution of House Committee to probe the alleged forest land grabbing by the PHE Minister, Taj Mohi-ud-din, it appears that the senior minister is also prima-facie guilty of contempt of SAC.
Now the question is as to what was the record before the minister to certify and give a clean chit to minister for PHE who is allegedly accused of forest land grabbing in Sedev, Shopaian because on the floor of the house he stated that the allegations of forest land grab have been looked into by State Accountability Commission in 2005 and the state Vigilance Organization in 2011 and nothing has been found against the minister concerned.
The appropriate portion of the letter reads: "….that the order for the constitution of the House Committee to investigate the issue raised while replying discussion to the Starred Deferred Question has been passed inspite of the vehement opposition by the Hon'ble Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs, Hon'ble Minister for Forests and Environment, majority of the sitting Hon'ble members at the time of the discussion including the undersigned, as Leader of the House, …….on the following grounds:
"The issue has been examined by the State Accountability Commission in the year 2005 and probed by the State Vigilance Organization in the year 2011 and both these agencies have denied any involvement of Hon'ble Minister in any forest land grabbing". (SIC)
It remains to be seen now as to whether the SAC, which has taken serious note of "false statement" of Taj and has initiated contempt proceedings against him, will take cognizance of the minister giving clean chit to Taj Mohi-ud-din. SAC could ask the minister to produce the record on the basis of which he has vouched for Taj in this case.
Noted lawyer and constitutional expert Advocate Riyaz Khawar while commenting on the issue told Early Times that contempt proceedings can be initiated against the minister because he has misled the House on one hand by stating that SAC has found nothing against Taj and on the other hand he is prima-facie guilty of contempt of SAC because he has reproduced that statement in his letter also.
"Though constitution provides for perjury contempt for misleading the house, in this very case contempt proceedings can be initiated by the SAC because SAC is within its rights to take cognizance of the false statement of the minister" Khawar said.
This is for the first time that the SAC has initiated contempt proceedings against a sitting minister in J&K since its establishment. Taj who has been in trouble over the past few months has been repeatedly claiming that State Vigilance Organization in 2011.
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