Seven of 11 Punjab cabinet ministers, including CM Bhagwant Mann, facing criminal charges: Report

New Delhi: Seven of the 11 newly elected Punjab leaders, including Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann in Punjab, have declared criminal cases against themselves, the poll rights group Association for Democratic Reforms said on Monday.

Four of these leaders are facing serious crimes including a murder case.

According to Punjab Election Watch and the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), the criminal history affidavits of all 11 ministers, including the CM have been analysed.

Under these reports, serious criminals cases consist of those offences that carry a punishment of up to five years or more. Mann is among the four ministers facing serious criminal cases.

The other three are Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal and Harpal Singh Cheema.

While Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal is facing a murder case, the other three have been booked in the past for allegedly voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from doing his duty.

Of the 11 ministers, nine are crorepatis and the average of their assets is Rs 2.87 crore.

The minister with the highest declared total assets is Bram Shanker (Jimpa) from Hoshiarpur. He has assets worth Rs. 8.56 crore.

Lal Chand from Bhoa (Sc) constituency has the lowest declared total assets worth Rs 6.19 lakh.

Nine ministers have declared liabilities.

The minister with the highest liabilities is Bram Shanker, He has liabilities worth Rs 1.08 crore.

The ADR said five ministers (45 per cent) have declared their educational qualification to be between Class 10 and 12 while the rest are graduates or above.

Six ministers (55 per cent) have declared their age to be between 31 and 50 years while five (45 per cent) are aged 51 and 60, the ADR said.

Ten AAP MLAs were sworn in as Punjab ministers on Saturday.

They are Harpal Singh Cheema, Harbhajan Singh, Dr Vijay Singla, Lal Chand, Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, Laljit Singh Bhullar, Bram Shanker Jimpa, Harjot Singh Bains and Dr Baljit Kaur.

Earlier, Bhagwant Mann had taken oath at a programme in Khatkar Kalan, the ancestral village of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh.

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