Court seeks response from Punjab govt, Sukhbir on ‘conflict of interest’ charges
Friday, 31/07/2015
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CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana high court on Thursday sought responses from Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and the state government on an application alleging “conflict of interest” as the ruling Badal family owns transport firms in the state.
The division bench of justice Hemant Gupta and justice Lisa Gill, issued notices on the application filed by two amicus curiae, RS Bains and HC Arora, who had submitted that the Badal family had shares in various transport firms having routes across the state. Such conflict of interest was bound to arise when certain persons in power also own the fleets of buses and compete with public transport, both lawyers told reporters after the hearing.
The high court was hearing two petitions on April 29 Moga incident, wherein a girl got killed after she and her mother were thrown out of a moving bus owned by Orbit Aviation Private Limited, owned by the Badal family. One petition was of suo motu notice taken by the high court and another by a private respondent seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the incident.
The advocate duo had submitted that the Badal family’s share increased from 2% to 21% and the share of other private transport firms decreased from 38% to 29% since 2007, when the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) government took over in the state. It has also been stated that since then, the state undertakings had been sinking and incurring huge losses.
“How it has been achieved is a question that needs to be scrutinised and a solution found to prevent it as it nullifies the oath of office and the Constitution. It is quite apparent that this has been used by exercise of power of the cabinet minister by change of policy, by change of taxation and by colourable exercise of power,” the application reads.
The high court has now directed both amicus curiae and others assisting the court in this case to frame questions by the next date of hearing, which would largely deal with issue of “policy, taxation and law” with respect to this incident and other issues involved.
