Chandigarh December 16 – The Shiromani Akali Dal today hailed the decision of the Honorable Punjab and Haryana High Court refusing to entertain a petition challenging the transport policy of the state government.
In a statement issued here, senior SAD leader and party Secretary General Sardar Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa said that the decision" had vindicated our stand that the propaganda being carried out against the SAD-BJP government through several forums including a section of the press, was mala fide and politically motivated. "If there had been even the slightest truth behind these failed attempts to whip up a mass hysteria against the government through inspired newspaper reports, the Honorable HC would even have taken a suo motto notice of any
tweaking of the transport policy to bring undue benefits to anyone in the ruling party. The High court order clearly states that the petition was not a bona fide one," said Sardar Dhindsa
The statement also hoped that the HC order would act as a deterrent to those who were planning to use august institutions to create a false atmosphere against the functioning of the government. "It is a very timely warning to those who were planning to misuse respected platforms for petty political motives," said Sardar Dhindsa.
Sardar Dhindsa further said that the verdict should serve as a "strong lesson to those who were taking resort to desperate measures, including mala fide petitions in courts, to create confusion in the minds of the people about various forward-looking and path-breaking policies and decisions of the Punjab government on the eve of assembly elections." The Akali leader pointed out that the Public Interest Petition had been disposed off in the context of mala fide intentions. The Court also found no merit in the petitioners’ claim that only the CBI or a sitting or a retired judge could investigate the merits of the case. The court had thus rejected the plea the state government agencies could not be relied upon to conduct a fair inquiry.
Sardar Dhindsa further referred to the media reports about the proceedings of the case. During the course of the arguments, the honorable judges had reportedly made several extremely significant observations, including the one relating the popular perception that
the policy had helped the common passenger in a big way. At the same stage, the honorable judges had also referred to the timing of the petition coming as it did just months ahead of the assembly elections in the state.
