Mohali:
Two more prosecution witnesses turned hostile during the trial of corruption and disproportionate assets case against Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Sigh Badal and his deputy CM-son Sukhbir Badal.
Collection of evidence in the high-profile case also including CM's wife Surinder Badal filed by Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) concluded before special court judge Rajinder Kumar Aggarwal in Mohali.
The Badals failed to turn up before the court. The case was registered in Mohali on June 24, 2003. While the CM had sought exemption from personal appearance due to preoccupation in official business for the eleventh consecutive time, Sukhbir and Surinder had gone abroad with prior permission of the court. Badals' close relative Narottam Singh Dhillon, who also did not turn up, had sought exemption on the ground of "ill health".
The court accepted the exemption pleas of all those accused absent for the day while six other accused on bail except, who had been declared proclaimed offenders, were present. Sanjiv Joshi, a resident of Mohali, and Jatinder Singh of Sangrur denied having given statement to the VB on November 24, 2003, and December 4, 2003, respectively, wherein they were quoted to be aware of the alleged corrupt practices of the Badals and others.
The case pertains to alleged corrupt practises of the Badal government during SAD's previous government. The Congress government of Amarinder Singh had filed cases against the Badals and others, when it came to power.