Chandigarh: The Punjab Police Tuesday arrested former health minister Vijay Singla, hours after he was removed by the chief minister for taking a cut in all departmental projects.
Earlier in the day, Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Bhagwant Mann axed the Mansa MLA from office when he got news that Singla was “demanding a 1% commission for allotting contracts given through tenders and departmental purchases”.
The chief minister, who initiated a police case against Singla, said in a video briefing: “I received complaints about one of my ministers.
The allegation was that he has been demanding 1 per cent commission for allotment of contracts given through tenders and departmental purchases. Only I knew about the case. I got a thorough investigation done.”
Sources told ThePrint that the complaint against Singla came to the chief minister’s office (CMO) nearly 10 days ago from a government officer. A sting operation was subsequently launched, said a senior official in the CMO.
Mann also said Singla had confessed to the financial misconduct. He added, “AAP has a zero-tolerance policy towards corruption. This (removing a sitting Cabinet minister) is happening for the second time in the country. In 2015, Arvind Kejriwal had sacked one of his ministers on corruption charges.”
Reacting to the arrest, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted that the whole nation “feels proud of AAP today”.
Proud of you Bhagwant. Ur action has brought tears to my eyes.
Whole nation today feels proud of AAP https://t.co/glg6LxXqgs
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) May 24, 2022
In 2015, Kejriwal fired Asim Ahmad Khan — former Delhi minister of Forest and Environment and Food and Civil Supplies — accusing him of corruption, and forwarded the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for a probe.
In one case, Khan was found to have demanded a bribe of Rs 6 lakh from a builder for allowing him to bypass laws.
The allegations were probed by the CBI, which exonerated Khan, following which Khan was rehabilitated in the party in 2019 and appointed chairman of the Delhi State Haj Committee.
Singla, 52, is a dental surgeon by profession and was elected MLA from Mansa in the 2022 Punjab assembly polls – which the AAP won with a thumping majority of 92 out of 117 seats. Singla defeated Congress’ Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu Moose Wala by a margin of 99,200 votes.
On 19 March, Singla was inducted in the Punjab cabinet as Minister of Health and Family Welfare. He was also given charge of the department of Medical Education and Research.
Singla told reporters that the allegation against him “was a conspiracy hatched to defame the Bhagwant Mann government in the state”.
Mann said in Tuesday’s press briefing: “If I wanted, I could have covered it up. But, by doing so, I would not only have failed my own conscience but also the trust of lakhs of people who voted for an honest government like the AAP.”
The report has been updated with Vijay Singla’s response
Also read: All of Bhagwant Mann’s men: These 5 aides and advisers hold the keys in Punjab’s new AAP govt