Date:07/07/2003 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2003/07/07/stories/2003070704301100.htm

National

Punjab Minister asked to go

By our Staff Correspondent

CHANDIGARH JULY 6. The Punjab Chief Minister, Amarinder Singh, today recommended the sacking of the Minister of State for Forests, Harbans Lal, indicted in a multi-crore tree felling scandal. While the suspension of a senior IAS officer, DharamVir Singh, has also been ordered, the case has been referred to the State Vigilance Bureau for further investigation.

Talking to The Hindu, Capt. Amarinder Singh, while confirming that he had recommended the sacking of Mr. Lal pending probe, said he had taken the party high command, including the president, Sonia Gandhi, into confidence. Meanwhile, high drama prevailed throughout the day. When a senior Minister close to the Chief Minister sought to impress upon Mr. Lal to put in his papers, he was informed that the latter had been admitted to a hospital in Delhi.

The Chief Minister is learnt to have set a deadline of 4 p.m. for the Minister to resign, failing which his sacking would be recommended to the Governor, Justice (retd.) O.P. Verma. A probe conducted by the Principal Secretary, P. Ram, established that Mr. Lal and Mr. Dharam Vir Singh colluded with private contractors to fell trees in Ropar district even after the felling season was over in 2001. While Mr. Dharam Vir Singh had granted extension to the contractors to fell 59,000 khair trees, Mr. Lal gave permission to fell another 5,000.

This is the second major controversy involving Mr. Lal. Earlier, his name figured in the list of those who managed registration certificates, using fake certificates, to practise Indian medicine systems in the State. The scandal involving nearly 2,000 such registrations was investigated by the Vigilance Bureau during the tenure of the previous SAD-BJP Government. The decision to sack Mr. Lal, who was elected MLA for the third consecutive time from Sirhind constituency, is expected to have far-reaching impact on State politics.