Akalis move from one shame to another

While the Punjab’s ruling clan repeatedly blame the neighbouring country and states for rampant drug smuggling and addiction, a senior Akali leader has created a flutter by publicly confessing that he had been protecting drug addicts in the past.
Admitting to shielding “petty” drug smugglers in the past, Rajya Sabha MP and general secretary of SAD Balwinder Bhunder said that he not only protected but also saved petty drug peddlers from police wrath.
“If someone is involved in such a work (of selling poppy husk), he must tell the truth. If he is a petty smuggler selling 3 to 5 kg of poppy husk, we will help him from police wrath,” Bhunder said while addressing party workers in Bathinda
Going down memory lane, he narrated an incident when Giani Zail Singh was the Chief Minister of Punjab and Bhunder was in jail.He said, “A habitual opium peddler was at my service in jail and when he was arrested for the third time, I intervened and warned police officials not to harass him as he was a poor man. Go and catch those who are big smugglers, I had said.”He said that he would help those who are into the “business” of poppy husk because of poverty.
The statement of the Rajya Sabha MP came at a point when Opposition parties, including the Congress and AAP, have been accusing the SAD of shielding drug addicts.

A month after a 13-year-old Moga girl died after her alleged molesters pushed her off a bus owned by Orbit Aviation, the Punjab and Haryana High Court issued notice of motion to Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal and Union Cabinet Minister Harsimrat Badal on a petition for arraigning them as accused. The couple allegedly owns shares in Orbit Aviation.
The Bench, in a related case, made it clear it will look into the ownership and profits made during the past five years by Orbit Aviation. As many as 62 buses owned by the company are currently operating in the state.
Taking up the Moga molestation case, the Bench also sought details of criminal cases registered against private operators in the past one year. Punjab Advocate-General Ashok Aggarwal was directed to produce the FIR in the molestation case.
As the case came up for resumed hearing, the Bench asked the company to disclose the details of its share-holders and also produce balance sheets for the past five years.
Drawing a parallel with Delhi’s Nirbhaya rape case wherein owners were booked, he contended directions should be issued to book Sukhbir and Harsimrat as accused. He added the staff behaved like “goondas” under political patronage.