Navjot Singh Sidhu derailing government's efforts, spreading misinformation: Punjab Advocate General

Slamming Sidhu - who had sought his resignation - APS Deol said, "Navjot Singh Sidhu is spreading misinformation to gain advantage over his political colleagues."

Chandigarh: Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu had yesterday (November 5) withdrawn his resignation from the post of Punjab Congress chief, but Sidhu has demanded Punjab Advocate General APS Deol resign from his appointed post for representing two accused cops in the 2015 sacrilege and police firing case. Now, Deol has hit back at Sidhu and said that the latter is "obstructing the functioning of the government and Office of the Advocate General." 

Slamming Sidhu for his "repeated utterances seek to derail the earnest efforts of the State Government to ensure justice in the 'Drugs matter' and the 'Sacrilege cases'", Deol said, "Navjot Singh Sidhu is spreading misinformation to gain political advantage over his political colleagues."

He also added that there is "a concerted attempt by vested interests to malign the functioning of the Congress Party in view of coming elections on Punjab for their selfish plitical gain by politicising the constitutional office of the Advocate General of Punjab."

Meanwhile on Saturday (November 6), Sidhu visited a gurdwara in Faridkot and prayed that those involved in the desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib in 2015 be given exemplary punishment that will be "a deterrent for generations to come". Sidhu offered prayers at the Burj Jawahar Singh Wala gurdwara in Faridkot from where a copy of the Guru Granth Sahib was stolen in 2015.

During a press conference on Friday, Sidhu had questioned the Charanjit Singh Channi-led state government over the steps taken for the delivery of justice in sacrilege cases and making public a special task force report in drug cases in the past 50 days. Sidhu also said that he would assume charge as Punjab Congress chief the day the new advocate general and a panel for the appointment of the new director general of police is appointed.

The Amritsar East legislator has opposed the appointment of state Advocate General APS Deol and Director General of Police Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota, considered as Channi's choices.

While Sahota was the head of the special investigation team (SIT) formed by the previous SAD-BJP government to probe the sacrilege incidents, Deol had represented former DGP Sumedh Singh Saini, who headed the state police six years ago, in cases related to sacrilege incidents and police firing on protesters.

The previous SAD-BJP government had handed over the three cases -- theft of a 'bir' (copy) of the Guru Granth Sahib from the Burj Jawahar Singh Wala gurdwara, putting up of handwritten sacrilegious posters in Bargari and Burj Jawahar Singh Wala, and torn pages of the holy book being found at Bargari -- to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The Congress government, however, had handed over the probe to an SIT of the Punjab Police in September 2018 after the state assembly passed a resolution withdrawing consent to the CBI to investigate these cases.