Gurdaspur advocate does city proud

A young advocate, Hitesh Chopra, who is a practicing lawyer at the Punjab and Haryana High Court, has been conferred the ‘Best Promising Lawyer’ award by Justice (retd) Rajiv Sharma. He is the son of Jagdishwar Chopra, Consumer Court Judge, Amritsar. Hitesh is a member of both Gurdaspur and Pathankot Bar Associations. He was conferred the award by Justice Sharma in the presence of GBS Dhillon, president of the Punjab and Haryana Bar Association, at a function held in Chandigarh on Tuesday. He has done his post-graduation in law from a UK-based university. Before that, he had his schooling from Pathankot and later went on to complete his graduation in law from Panjab University, Chandigarh. His father said, “I gave him formal education while he gained self-education by practicing in the courts. In my opinion, formal education will make you a living; self- education will make you a fortune.” Hope the father’s words ring out loud and true in the future.

Halqa incharges: More things change, more they remain the same

AAP halqa in-charges in Punjab should place alarm clocks near their beds. Every morning, these devices should remind them that they had actually lost the 2022 elections. If they have any delusions, these must be cleared immediately. These leaders have failed to make it to the podium notwithstanding strong gusts of wind blowing in favour of their party. They ceded the moral high ground the moment they decided to stick to politics despite having met their Waterloo. These ‘selected’ leaders are now ruling over the people, police and the civil administration. The elected ones, the MLAs, have virtually been rendered persona non grata, politically speaking. As things stand, these politicians are living the dream of their lifetime. Much to the chagrin of their rivals, they preside over officials meetings, are offered seats in front rows at government functions and are recipients of massive security paraphernalia. They have been given absolute power. So much so, they pay no heed to the thought that greater the power, the more danger of its abuse! Who will tell these gentlemen that power without the confidence of the people is equivalent to zilch. All transfers and postings are done at their behest. Some like Fatehgarh Churian halqa in-charge Balbir Singh Pannu even had the cheek to stretch things to a wire, upsetting the cops’ applecart. This man brought an old vehicle, dusted and painted it and started using it as his pilot, which in any case he is not entitled to. Taking things a step forward, he affixed a fake registration number plate to this vehicle. Somebody got an inkling of this con and filed a complaint with Batala SSP Ashwani Gotyal. Much to the delight of the local residents, the officer summoned him to her office. Such things seldom happened before. Fearing repercussions in the form of a transfer, officers never used to call a halqa in-charge to a police station. But this woman officer had the nerve to overturn tradition. The city saluted her because of her daring to tame a powerful politician in his own den. These leaders take some sort of pleasure by calling senior officers to their homes at odd hours. Officers are intentionally made to wait till the bloated ego of the halqa in-charge is satiated. Recently, an APP MLA made an interesting observation. “The other day, I called up a senior officer. I was curtly told to call later. Much to my dismay, I was informed by the officer that he was busy talking to a ‘selected’ leader. I sank in my chair. I asked myself why on earth I had to contest an election if wielding power and influence was so simple and easy,” he said. In the run-up to the polls, CM Bhagwant Mann and his boss in Delhi Arvind Kejriwal made it amply clear in their speeches that the ‘halqa in-charge’ system would be banished if their party came to power. The party did come to power, Mann became the CM, Kejriwal the Super-CM but the system, albeit illegal and unconstitutional, has not changed a bit. And that is the unfortunate part of AAP’s political dynamics.

(Contributed by Ravi Dhaliwal)

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