Manpreet for HC-monitored probe into ruling families’ assets
Thursday, 21/05/2015
http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx
AMRITSAR: People’s Party of Punjab (PPP) chief Manpreet Singh Badal has demanded the setting up of a Special Investigating Team (SIT) under the supervision of the Punjab and Haryana high court to probe into “misuse of the government machinery for amassing wealth by selected ruling families of Punjab”.
While probing and identifying the sources through which wealth was amassed by them, the probe should in particular focus on the operations of the private bus companies owned by them or the relatives of the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leaders, said Manpreet.
“The high court is already seized of the matter of the transport operations in the state taking suo motu notice following the Moga tragedy involving an Orbit transport bus. It would be appropriate to order a probe into the amassing of wealth by the ruling party families by tweaking government rules since 2007. The concession by way of passenger tax to multi-axle luxury buses is an example of how the Badal family tweaked rules for promoting own transport fleet,” Manpreet stated at a press conference here on Wednesday.
‘PROJECTS PREPARED TO FAVOUR BADALS’
The PPP chief claimed that projects in the state were being prepared after leaking vital information to the cronies of those in power. “This helps the cronies to purchase land and then schemes are floated for which the same land is acquired at higher rates for setting-up the project,” he added.
He referred to the construction of a road to Pallanpur resort of deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal, even though “a road to that village already existed”. “It was a strange case of officials’ going out of the way to meet the demands of a village, whereas link roads in the rest of the state are in a poor state,” Manpreet added.
