The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today while advocating exemplary punishment to the perpetrators of the Moga incident, ridiculed opposition demands for action against SAD President and Deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and urged it not to play politics over dead bodies. Urging all political parties and the people of the State to have faith in chief minister Parkash Singh Badal who had directed the strictest possible action against the accused, the SAD said it was unfortunate that the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) were trying to use the tragic demise of of a teenage girl as a political tool to reclaim lost political ground.In a statement here, SAD general secretary Maheshinder Singh Grewal said it was absurd to demand that a case should be registered against an owner of a bus whose employees had committed a wrong doing. He said in legal jurisprudence only the person who committed a crime was liable to face prosecution. "The law of vicarious liability under law of torts is only applicable in civil matters". He also clarified that cases being referred to by the opposition to justify their stand had nothing in common with the Moga incident.
Grewal said in the case of the Moga incident it was clear that few employees of the company were accused of horrendous actions. "The sincerity of the government can be gauged from the fact that the two prime accused were arrested immediately and booked under Section 302 of the IPC". He said in direct contrast the opposition had not only shown opportunism but also callousness. "AAP leader Bhagwant Mann has been pictured in the media smiling while addressing a protest rally in Moga. He said earlier the same Bhagwant Mann had claimed that Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal need not resign despite the fact that the farmer Gajender Singh committed suicide at the AAP rally in Delhi after being instigated by AAP leaders.
The SAD leader said as far as Punjab Congress president Partap Singh Bajwa was concerned, the Congress leader had latched onto the issue to save his presidency. "Bajwa knows he is on the way out with a majority of party legislators expressing their no confidence in him. He is simply playing politics on this issue", he said adding it was surprising that Mr Bajwa never demanded the resignation of the Congress president when one of its leaders murdered his wife in what is now known as the 'tandoor kaand'. "But then this is the favourite ploy of the Congress which is in the habit of giving shelter to criminals", Mr Grewal said adding Mr Bajwa himself had harboured a known criminal and even used the criminal to keep his opponents away from Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi during the latter's visit to Chandigarh last year.