Former PCC chief Sunil Jakhar's letter to AICC general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal and Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, demanding criminal charges be ushered against Cabinet minister Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi in the alleged "double compensation" case, has created another major controversy in the Punjab Congress government.
Punjab PWD Department Guru Har Sahai has already filed a civil suit against Sodhi and his family for the recovery of land compensation taken twice in a court in Ferozepur district. Jakhar in his letter has asked the party high command and CM to remove minister Sodhi from the cabinet berth.
‘Double compensation was received by Sodhi and his family during the SAD-BJP rule, and the Akali Dal is quiet on the matter now,' the former state PCC chairman wrote to Venugopal in a letter. A copy of the letter was also given to Harish Rawat, the AICC Punjab affairs in charge.
In his letter to Venugopal, Jakhar wrote that the biggest question was why the previous SAD-BJP government chose to ignore crucial details and did not take legal action during the SAD-BJP regime, why did they help a Congress leader in an illegal act.
He also mentioned that Sodhi and his family were granted a distillery license in 2015 during the SAD-BJP rule and that this fact was brought to light when inhabitants of Hiran Wali village in Fazlica recently started protesting.
According to sources close to the situation, Jakhar wrote these letters two months ago, and also questioned the CM about Sodhi during the April 26 cabinet meeting, when he and minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa handed over their resignations to CM.
Even as Jakhar demanded Sodhi's dismissal from Amarinder's government, he encouraged Venugopal to expel him from the party.
Jakhar complimented CM in his letter for stopping the payment to the Sodhi family, having the matter investigated, and then pursuing a recovery claim. However, he wrote that removing him from the state government was necessary to guarantee that the Congress party will not encourage such frauds. “To keep the party's position clear, he claimed it was important to file criminal proceedings against Sodhi”, he said.
A Punjab government sub-committee accused Sodhi and his family of obtaining double compensation for land acquired by the state government for a road project last year.
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According to the investigation, the state government purchased the land in Mohanki Attar village in 1962 and compensated the family with Rs 7,384 at the time. During the Akali-BJP coalition government in 2014, the family was again compensated with Rs 1.83 crore.
The Punjab government is also pushing the case to the Supreme Court as it sought a review on the relief granted to Sodhi family in the 2019 order. The family was served with a notice by the Supreme Court in the first week of May last year.