'DA case an old charge packaged afresh'

CHANDIGARH: If former Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh is to be believed, the case of disproportionate assets against him is an old scam packaged anew. Lashing out at Punjab vigilance on Sunday, Amarinder claimed the current charges were covered in an earlier Ludhiana City Centre case.
Claiming that under the Indian judicial system, the same case couldn't be tried in two courts, Amarinder said his attorney had questioned the very registration of the fresh case against him.He said he would fight the legal battle and not take to the streets. Visibly upset over the mention of his spending money on "ladies', Amarinder said, "It's absurd to suggest that I have been going around with prostitutes and ladies of ill repute. There should be some decency in politics."
Of visiting Barot in Himachal Pradesh along with "ladies" in 2003 and holding celebrations in Delhi along with foreign guests on March 2, 2007, Amarinder said he had been to HP to inspect Sanan power house but no woman accompanied him. He also dismissed the allegations of celebrating at Delhi merely three days after the party's defeat in assembly polls.
Though support poured in from unexpected quarters after the case was registered against him, including from PPCC chief Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, the former CM again accused her of being hand-in-glove with the Akalis. "How can she watch cricket matches and enjoy meals when the ruling Akalis have let loose a reign of terror on Congressmen in Punjab?" he asked.
Targeting Bhattal further, he said apart from the Akalis, even a few Congress members were opposed to his return, suggesting that these persons were also instrumental in getting the case registered against him.
Joining issue with him, Bhattal denied she was allying with CM Parkash Singh Badal, and said Amarinder had no locus standi to make unfounded allegations when he himself had not only hobnobbed but actually joined the Akalis in mid-1980s and remained with them for over a decade. "He even tried to persuade me to desert Congress,"' she claimed.