Badal challenges CM to prove Saraya Industries had received even one rupee in foreign funding from 2007 to present time
Chandigarh, June 28 – Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal today challenged chief minister Bhagwant Mann to prove that Saraya Industries Limited, in which senior party leader Bikram Singh Majithia had an inherited share of eleven per cent, had received even one rupee in foreign funding from 2007 to the present time while rubbishing the allegations made in the Disproportionate Assets case registered against the Akali leader.
Sukhbir Badal Refutes ₹540 Crore Foreign Funding Claim
Addressing a press conference here, Sukhbir Badal said “the only foreign funding received by Saraya Industries was in March,2006 (one year before SAD formed government in the State) when it received Rs 35 crore from United States based Clearwater Corporation in exchange for 25 per cent shares in the company. Mr Majithia entered politics only in 2007”. He also asserted that Clearwater Corporation, which had offices in several countries, had invested Rs 50,000 crore globally. The company invested all money through the NBFC in Saraya Industries. This was done after due clearance from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). It also received approval from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB).
Sukhbir Badal clarified that the Income Tax department scrutinized and accepted all transactions of Saraya Industries. He said this scrutiny clearly proves that the claim of a ₹540 crore investment in Saraya Industries through foreign funding is absurd, malicious, and intended solely to defame Mr. Majithia. Badal added that the Income Tax department also scrutinized all cash transactions carried out by Saraya Industries while procuring sugarcane and running its distillery business. He further stated that Saraya Industries Ltd is a private limited company. It is deemed to be a public limited company. This company is a separate entity from Bikram Majithia. It cannot be linked to him. “Mr Majithia has no control over the company’s day to day functioning”.
Foreign Funding : Badal Alleges CM Pressured DGP to File Case Against Majithia
Asserting that chief minister Bhagwant Mann had pressurized the State DGP to register a case against Mr Majithia because the latter was constantly exposing him and his corrupt and immoral cabinet colleagues, the SAD president said “the chief minister rang up the DGP on the night of June 24 and threatened to remove him in case he did not register a case against Mr Majithia by the morning. Consequently the DGP wrote to the Vigilance department to register a case against the Akali leader at 10.40 pm the same night. Subsequently a Disproportionate Assets case was registered against Mr Majithia at 4.40 am on June 25”.
Badal maintained that no investigation had been done before registering the case. “The Vigilance department did not deem it fit to issue a questionnaire to Mr Majithia which is a prerequisite before filing such a case”. He said an affidavit was used verbatim to register this new case against him. The government had submitted this affidavit to the Supreme Court in 2023. This occurred during the appeal for cancellation of the regular bail given to Mr Majithia. They also sought his custodial interrogation in an NDPS Act.
SAD Chief Slams AAP for Vendetta Against Majithia
“This was done even though the Supreme Court rejected the affidavit in April this year. The court refused to overturn the regular bail given to Majithia by the high court. It also did not grant the request for custodial interrogation. The apex court asked the AAP government to complete the probe in two days. Following this, it has now taken this new route to engage in political vendetta”.
The SAD president also condemned the actions of the AAP government. They used retired officers to defame Mr Majithia. Former DGP S Chattopadhyay is the same person. Earlier, he registered a Disproportionate Assets case against former chief minister S Parkash Singh Badal and Mr Majithia. He even travelled to several countries on government expenses to find evidence of foreign properties owned by the Badal family. The entire case fell flat due to lack of any evidence. He said retired Enforcement Director Niranjan Singh was involved. However, the Enforcement Directorate had given a clean chit to Mr Majithia. It was being kept out of the ambit of the case.
SAD Chief Slams AAP for Vendetta Against Majithia
Badal questioned the formation of five SITs to probe the NDPS case allegations against Majithia. He alleged that Varun Sharma, the present SIT head, is compromised. He also claimed that another SIT member, Gurbans Singh Bains, faced dismissal from service for five years on corruption charges.
“The truth is the AAP government found no drugs in the NDPS case. It has now failed to find any illegal assets in the Disproportionate Assets case,” Badal added.
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