‘Vigilance FIR against my husband patently illegal’

Hitherto seen as a reluctant politician, Shiromani Akali Dal’s Majitha MLA Ganieve Kaur Majithia, 49, has stepped out of the shadows to defend her husband Bikram Singh Majithia, who is in judicial custody now in an alleged Rs 540-crore disproportionate assets case. In an interaction with Hindustan Times, she countered the vigilance bureau charges and accused the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party government of targeting the former minister with an “illegal FIR”. Edited excerpts:

- Ravinder Vasudeva and Surender Sharma

The Punjab Vigilance Bureau says you own 1,000 acres in Shimla and it was not declared in your election affidavit?

That is totally false. I demand the Vigilance Bureau show the public where I own the 1,000 acres (4.05sq km) in Shimla. Why not show us the site through the satellite map? Every inch of the property owned by me in Mashobra has been reflected in the election affidavit. The property has been bought through my known sources of income. Forget Mashobra, please show the 1,000 acres in the name of Ganieve Kaur Majithia. Can anybody own 1,000 acres (the size of 750 football fields) in Himachal? We won't allow the Vigilance Bureau to get away with this. We are proceeding against them legally.

The VB also claims that you own 25% shares in a land development colony in Green Avenue of Jalandhar.

Leave aside 25% share in a company, the VB can’t even prove that Ganieve owns 4 gaj (square yards) in Jalandhar. I've visited Jalandhar only once in my lifetime and that too for an hour. I challenge the Punjab government to show the 1,000 acres I own anywhere in India and I won't apply for Bikram Singh Majithia’s bail.

The VB claims your family received foreign money through shell companies. What is your take?