A joint delegation of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday urged Punjab Governor VP Singh Badnore to refuse his assent to the appointment of “Congressman” Justice (retired) Mehtab Singh Gill as lokpal saying that the retired judge “did not meet the constitutional, political and moral qualifications needed to be eligible for this august post”.
The delegation submitted a memorandum to the Governor detailing Justice Gill’s “close association” with the Congress party as well as the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, his “abuse of power” as head of Commission of Inquiry formed by the Congress government as well as his “tainted record” as judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court “during the course of which he was even accused of malpractices including using his influence with disgraced former PPSC chairman Ravi Sidhu to get jobs for his kin in the State Government”.
“lokpal should be a man of impeccable character and represent public interest and not private interest as is the case of Justice Gill who could not be trusted to deal with complaints received by him in an impartial and fair manner,” said the delegation.
It added that the Judge was also barred from holding this post as per the Punjab lokpal Act, 1996, which stated that lokpal shall not be connected with any political party.
Briefing the Governor, SAD president Sukhbir Badal informed that Justice Gill wore his allegiance to the Congress party on his sleeve. “The Judge had provided his residence in Charik village in Moga to the then state Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh during 2013 Moga by-election for use as Capt Amarinder’s residence-cum-camp office,” he said.
“This was not all. During the run up to the 2017 assembly elections Capt Amarinder appointed Justice Gill to a committee which was assigned with preparing the blueprint for the Congress party’s election manifesto,” he added.
Accusing Justice Gill of “brazenly misusing his powers and transgressing into the jurisdiction of investigation agencies and courts by arbitrarily cancelling FIRs purely based on his proximity with the Congress government” as the head of Commission of Inquiry to look into alleged false cases.
Sukhbir said that Justice Gill had also proved by his actions that he was also hand-in-glove with former leader of Opposition in Vidhan Sabha and AAP MlA Sukhpal Khaira. “Justice Gill’s candidature as lokpal was approved by Khaira under a tacit understanding with the Congress government,” he said, adding that Justice Gill commission has cancelled 17 cases registered against Khaira and his supporters.
“Now that Khaira has been unceremoniously removed as leader of opposition, it proves the opposition party does not have any faith in decisions taken by Khaira who has been commonly termed as B-team of the Congress party. Now, Justice Gill’s candidature needed to be revisited as leader of opposition has been changed before appointment of lokpal and now this appointment needed to be considered by the new competent authority,” said Sukhbir.
The delegation also submitted record regarding Justice Gill’s functioning as the High Court judge pointing that the Punjab Vigilance Bureau had found leads to a slew of malpractices in the High Court at the behest of Justice Gill and another retired judge.
WITHDRAW NOTIFICATION MAKING HElMETS MANDATORY FOR SIKH WOMEN: SAD-BJP TO GUV
A joint delegation of SAD-BJP on Thursday urged the Union Territory Administrator VP Singh Badnore to withdraw the notification making it mandatory for the Sikh women to wear helmets while driving two-wheeler.
The delegation, led by SAD president Sukhbir Badal and Punjab BJP’s general secretary Parveen Bansal apprised the Administrator that Sikh women were exempted from wearing helmets even by the Supreme Court which had adjudicated on the issue in a civil appeal filed by the Chandigarh Administration in 2004.
The Apex Court held the view that clause three of the Motor Vehicles (Protective Headgears) Rules, 1980, exempted the Sikh women from wearing helmets, pointed Sukhbir.
Badnore was apprised that the Chandigarh Administration had changed the definition of Sikh women by substituting the words “or a woman” in the Rules to “A Sikh person (including women) wearing the turban”. It said that as per Sikh rehat maryada, it is not mandatory for Sikh women to wear a turban and that most women covered their heads with a ‘dupatta’,” they said.
The delegation said that the move had hurt the sentiments of the Sikh community and the decision of the UT Administration to change the definition of Sikh women had been condemned by all Sikh religious bodies including the Jathedar of Sikhs’ highest temporal seat Akal Takht.
Sukhbir urged the UT Administrator to intervene and direct the Chandigarh Administration to withdraw the “controversial notification” making it mandatory for Sikh women to wear helmets while driving two wheelers immediately.
lAW AND ORDER OUT OF CAPT’s HAND: SUKHBIR
SAD president Sukhbir Badal, during his meeting with the Punjab Governor, also highlighted that the law and order situation in the state had completely collapsed.
“It seems that the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh does not have any control over the civil or police administration,” said Sukhbir.
The former deputy Chief Minister said that the Punjab Police had also got out of control as could be seen from the heinous atrocities inflicted upon Sikh youth at Sanour in Patiala recently. Sukhbir also highlighted the recent rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Qadian in Gurdaspur saying that the main accused in the case was being given political shelter.