BATHINDA: The Punjab transport department on Wednesday impounded 15 buses of private transporters, including those owned by the family and close associates of SAD president Sukhbir Badal family, plying without paying tax or without permit in the state. Transport minister Amrinder Singh Raja Warring said complaints of private buses operating without tax were continuously pouring in, so special investigation teams of the department were constituted. During raids in four districts — Faridkot, Bathinda, Amritsar and Ludhiana — 15 buses were impounded.
Speaking to TOI, Warring said, “I had instructed the transport department officials to check buses not meeting norms, like either not paying taxes or not having proper permits or making more rounds than permitted. The department officials on Wednesday impounded a number of buses of various transport companies from Bathinda, Faridkot, Amritsar and Ludhiana. I have come to know that alerted about the impending action, one of the transport companies deposited Rs 55 lakh as tax. Others may follow suit but we will check tax evasion.”
Two buses each of Jujhar Bus Service and New Deep have been impounded in Faridkot. Similarly, two buses of New Deep, one of Orbit Aviation and one of Rajdhani Bus Service were impounded in Bathinda. Orbit Aviation is owned by the family of SAD president Sukhbir. Two buses of Baba Budha Transport Service owned by the SAD leader Nirmal Singh Kahlon have been impounded in Amritsar. One bus of Orbit Aviation, two of Jujhar Bus Service owned by Gurdeep Singh and one each of Libra Bus Service and Nagpal Bus Service have been impounded in Ludhiana district.
Sources in the transport department said buses of influential transporters took lucrative time slots and even got more parking time at bus stands as compared to those of public transport buses. After taking charge, Warring had got a kiosk of Orbit removed from Bathinda bus stand.
Warring had contested assembly polls against SAD’s Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon of New Deep transport. Dhillon has termed it a part of vedenta politics. “We have certain conditions for depositing tax and are ready to deposit it when they are fulfilled. No other norms is being violated by us,” claimed Dhillon.
Sources said the minister has specially targetted the family-owned buses of Badals and Dhillon. He had been claiming for long that if given a chance he would look into buses being run by transport companies owned by the two families. The minister said any person violating the rules of the department would not be spared at any cost.
