Punjab’s former Deputy Chief Minister, OP Soni, has been arrested in reference to a case involving disproportionate property. The Vigilance Bureau has detained Soni relating to the buildup of wealth past his identified sources of revenue. Today, Om Prakash Soni offered himself on the Special Investigation and Vigilance Bureau (SIVB) workplace, the place he was questioned extensively earlier than being taken into custody.
Serious Allegations of Amassed Wealth
Serious allegations of accumulating disproportionate property have been leveled in opposition to former Deputy Chief Minister OP Soni. He has been requested to offer data and particulars relating to the acquisition of wealth. It is clear that the investigation will concentrate on his revenue from 2017 to 2022.
The Vigilance Bureau’s Statement
The spokesperson for the Vigilance Bureau said {that a} case below FIR quantity 20, dated July 9, 2023, has been registered in opposition to OP Soni on the VB police station, Amritsar Range, below sections 13(1)(b) and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, following an inquiry performed on October 10, 2022.
During the interval from April 1, 2016, to March 31, 2022, OP Soni’s whole revenue, together with his household’s, amounted to INR 45,218,771, whereas expenditures reached INR 124,842,692. This signifies that his revenue exceeded his identified sources by INR 79,623,921 or 176.08 p.c. It has been alleged that OP Soni made property investments within the names of his spouse, Sumen Soni, and son, Raghav Soni, throughout this era. Further investigation into this matter is ongoing.
OP Soni’s Political Background
OP Soni, after the resignation of Captain Amarinder Singh and the appointment of Charanjit Singh Channi as Chief Minister in 2021, was entrusted with the place of Deputy Chief Minister in Punjab. Soni has beforehand gained elections to the Punjab Legislative Assembly in 1997, 2002, 2007, and 2012. In the 2017 elections, he contested the Amritsar Central seat and was defeated by a margin of over 21,000 votes. He served as the primary Mayor of Amritsar in 1991 and remained the General Secretary of the Punjab Congress Publicity Committee and Chairman of the All India Council of Mayors. Additionally, he has been a member of the Public Accounts Committee within the Legislative Assembly and Chairman of the Committee on Public Undertakings within the Punjab Vidhan Sabha through the 2017-18 time period.
The investigation into OP Soni’s case is anticipated to proceed, shedding additional mild on the allegations in opposition to the previous Deputy Chief Minister.
