Chandigarh: Arrested Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Jaswant Singh Gajjanmajra has been discharged after a month-long stay at a government hospital in Patiala amid a political row over allegations that he was being given VIP treatment there.
An accused in a Rs 40 crore bank fraud case, Gajjanmajra was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in November last year and lodged in Patiala Central Jail. Since 11 May, however, he had been admitted in the Government Medical College & Rajindra Hospital in Patiala, first in the cardiology department, and then the urology department. He has now returned to Patiala jail.
His extended stay in the hospital had sparked allegations that the MLA was enjoying VIP facilities in the hospital while in judicial custody. He was discharged on the basis of a recommendation made by a board of doctors constituted to look into the matter.
The Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government faced severe criticism over the allegations, with the Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) demanding a probe into the matter. This came days after the Lok Sabha election results that showed AAP’s dismal performance at the hustings.
The matter was first highlighted by RTI activist Manik Goyal on X Wednesday. Goyal claimed that first, the MLA was admitted in the cardiology wing of the hospital, where he stayed from 11 May 11 to 6 June. Once he was discharged from the cardiology department on 6 June, he was admitted to the urology department.
Very strange things are happening in Punjab.
He is Jaswant Gajjanmajra, an AAP MLA from Amargarh. He is in judicial custody in connection with a 40 crore bank fraud case.
However, he is not staying in jail; he has been staying in an air-conditioned room located in Rajindra… pic.twitter.com/MNwBhWXxKN
— Manik Goyal (@ManikGoyal_) June 12, 2024
The issue almost immediately snowballed into a political controversy with the Opposition attacking CM Mann for allowing the accused MLA to seek VIP facilities while in custody.
Leader of the Opposition Pratap Singh Bajwa wrote on X that “the possibility of the AAP government’s involvement in providing such facilities to the jailed MLA cannot be ruled out”.
Jailed @AAPPunjab MLA, Jaswant Singh Gajjanmajra has been enjoying the VIP facilities in the Government Rajindra Hospital since May 11.
The possibility of the AAP government's involvement in providing such facilities to the jailed MLA cannot be ruled out. Therefore, I urge the…
— Partap Singh Bajwa (@Partap_Sbajwa) June 13, 2024
Meanwhile, Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia wrote in a post on X that there were different sets of rules for the common man and AAP leaders. “The common man and leaders of other political parties stay in jail while AAP leaders are given VVIP facilities in hospitals. Both the wards in which he was admitted are super specialty wards complete with all top class facilities including air conditioning.”
🛑 ਬਦਲਾਵ ਵਾਲੀ ਸਰਕਾਰ ਦੇ MLA ਨੂੰ ਜੇਲ 'ਚ ਰੱਖਣ ਦੀ ਬਜਾਏ ਹਸਪਤਾਲਾਂ ਵਿੱਚ ਰੱਖ ਦਿੱਤਾ ਜਾ ਰਿਹਾ VVIP Treatment
👉 ਕੋਈ ਵਿਰੋਧੀ ਧਿਰ ਦਾ ਨੇਤਾ ਜਾਂ ਕੋਈ ਆਮ ਇਨਸਾਨ ਹੋਵੇ ਤਾਂ ਉਹਨੂੰ ਜੇਲ੍ਹ ਵਿੱਚ ਰੱਖਿਆ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਹੈ ਜਦਕਿ ਆਪਣੇ ਧੋਖਾਧੜੀ ਦੇ ਕੇਸਾਂ ਵਿੱਚ ਬੰਦ ਵਿਧਾਇਕਾਂ ਨੂੰ AC ਰੂਮ ਅਤੇ ਹੋਰ ਆਧੁਨਿਕ ਸਹੂਲਤਾਂ ਦਿੱਤੀਆਂ ਜਾਂਦੀਆਂ… pic.twitter.com/Pijg5SKd2N
— Bikram Singh Majithia (@bsmajithia) June 12, 2024
When contacted, Dr Rajnish Raj, the medical superintendent of the hospital, had told ThePrint Friday that Gajjanmajra was undergoing treatment in the urology department since 7 June and had not been given any VIP facilities. “A vacation board of three doctors has been constituted to submit a detailed report about the condition of the patient and if there is a necessity to continue with his admission, a decision regarding which will be taken in due course,” he said.
Dr Rajnish further said that since he had taken over as medical superintendent only recently, he did not have any information on Gajjanmajra’s admission in the cardiology department on 11 May.
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Who is Jaswant Singh Gajjanmajra & what is the case against him
Gajjanmajra is a businessman-turned-politician. A former history teacher, he runs schools and colleges in Amargarh. He also runs eateries, deals in agriculture seeds, has a feed factory and real estate ventures. He started his political career by joining the Lok Insaaf Party of the Ludhiana-based Bains brothers. He contested the 2017 assembly elections from Amargarh but lost to the Congress.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Gajjanmajra’s schools continued to charge fees from students, leading to protests and the LIP sending him a notice. Instead of replying to the notice, Gajjanmajra left the LIP and joined AAP in 2020.
He contested the March 2022 assembly elections on an AAP ticket from Amargarh and won by a thin margin of 6,000 votes, defeating Simranjeet Singh Mann, the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) president.
Gajjanmajra ran into trouble almost immediately following the assembly elections. In May 2022, the CBI raided various premises linked to him. According to the information given by CBI spokesperson R.C. Joshi at the time, the agency had registered a case against Gajjanmajra, his brothers and nephew and their companies Tara Corporation Ltd (renamed as Malaudh Agro Ltd.) and Tara Health Foods on the complaint of the Bank of India, Ludhiana.
According to the CBI, Gajjanmajra’s firm was sanctioned loans from 2011-2014 by the bank which were allegedly not used for the purpose they were intended. The firms defaulted on the loans, causing the bank loss worth Rs 40 crore.
CBI spokesperson Joshi said at the time, “Cash worth Rs 16.57 lakh (approx), around 88 foreign currency notes, some property documents, several bank accounts and other incriminating documents were found and recovered during searches.”
Following the CBI raids, Gajjanmajra said there are times when the best of businesses are not able to repay bank loans.
Based on the FIR lodged by the CBI, the ED started investigating the matter and raided Gajjanmajra’s properties in September 2022. They summoned Gajjanmajra four times but when he refused to show up for questioning, the ED arrested him in November 2023.
The AAP had at that time called the arrest a case of vendetta politics.
Gajjanmajra challenged his arrest by the ED in the Punjab and Haryana High Court but was not given any relief. He then moved the Supreme Court with the same plea. The matter will next be heard on 18 June.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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