Will cooperate with ED: Punjab Minister Bikram Singh Majithia

Punjab Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia, who has been served summons by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), today assured full cooperation with the agency probing money laundering complaints in the Rs 6,000-crore drug racket case.

"...I was not at home when the summons were delivered at my residence and to cooperate with the agency, I contacted the Enforcement Directorate official concerned over phone and directed my staff to receive the summons immediately," the state revenue minister said in a statement. Punjab Chief Minister came to Majithia's defence and said "summoning a person does not mean that he is a criminal".

Describing the matter as a "malicious campaign", Majithia said, "I am innocent but continue to be subjected to a media trial." He accused some leaders, including Congress President Partap Singh Bajwa, of trying to create a wrong perception of him and said "all allegations were baseless and without any evidence".

Majithia said he was all for a thorough investigation into the matter to end the political "witch-hunt" which he was being subjected to. "...I would also like to state that five central investigating agencies under the Congress-led UPA regime had gone into the allegations levelled against me and found nothing.

"Similarly, the PIL filed by a few Congress leaders against me was also dismissed by the honourable High Court with the petitioners being told not to politicise the drug issue," he said. Meanwhile, Punjab Congress and People's Party of Punjabon Sunday demanded that Majithia tender his resignation. In a statement, Punjab Congress chief Partap Singh Bajwa too sought his resignation and reminded Majithia that earlier then Jails Minister Sarwan Singh Phillaur had resigned in the same case when the name of his son had surfaced.

"Now it is Majithia who has been summoned and he must resign and appear before the investigators to pave the way for transparent investigation," Bajwa said. People's Party of Punjab chief Manpreet Singh Badal said Majithia should first resign and then appear before the ED on December 26. "In case Majithia is innocent and his name has been wrongly involved for political reasons, he will get himself redeemed by proving his innocence during investigation by the Enforcement Directorate and re-join the cabinet which will not be a problem," he said.