HC takes note of letter on Badals’ businesses

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 3

The Badals may find it tough to steer clear of trouble, with the Punjab and Haryana High Court today taking suo motu cognisance of a handwritten anonymous letter saying they had “amassed wealth at the cost of the state” and should be sent behind bars.

Seeking a CBI probe, the letter adds: “The amount earned by them should be recovered and a fine of Rs 100 crore be imposed on them as it is a more serious case than that of Jayalalitha in Tamil Nadu.” Written in connection with the Orbit case, the letter by a “sufferer” was posted to the Division Bench of Justice Hemant Gupta and Justice Lisa Gill.

Taking up the matter this morning, the Bench put the State of Punjab, the Director General of Police (DGP), the State Transport Commissioner and Orbit Aviation on notice. The Bench also fixed July 30 as the next date of hearing in the matter. The notice came just about three months after a 13-year-old girl died after her alleged molesters threw her off the bus owned by Orbit Aviation — transport company owned by the Badal family.

Quoting The Tribune, the letter has, among other things, questioned the business interest of the Badals. At the very onset, the “sufferer” has written that “all points have been highlighted by The Tribune.

The letter states: “If a government employee cannot do any business in his or his family’s name, how come Badals are doing businesses related to transport, cable TV, sand, restaurants and five star hotels. Badals have been elected by people just to govern the state and not to earn from the state.”

The letter goes on to add that Orbit buses are favoured over other buses. “They are enjoying 20 to 25-minute stop at every bus stand against three to five minutes of halt by other buses. They fill their buses to full capacity…

“Orbit buses are also not paying parking fee of Rs 40 or Rs 50 per bus at every bus stand. The buses do not pay tax to the government as these do not have valid permits.” The complainant says, “The Punjab Road Transport Corporation earned a profit of Rs 5 lakh daily when Orbit buses were off the roads. We can safely say that it is a conflict of interest between Badals and the state,” he says.

He alleges that Badals are charging Re 1 per packet of “Kitty Bread”. The total earning is Rs 1 lakh daily. It is just like “hafta vasuli”, he says.

He also alleges that the Badals refused to return Rs 2, 000 crore of loan raised from PUDA. Despite this, employees are not being paid salary regularly. The writer has concluded by saying he cannot disclose his name for “safety and security” reasons.