The Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh today stated that he was committed to ensuring peace in the State and will continue to take all necessary steps to ensure maintenance of Law and Order in the State. While responding to queries raised by a section of the media regarding the order of the Punjab & Haryana High Court on the proposed rally by SAD in Faridkot, he charged the Shiromani Akali Dal with attempting to vitiate the peaceful atmosphere in the State by raking up emotions of the people in the State with a misinformation campaign as a part of a series of desperate efforts initiated by them after being exposed by the Justice Ranjit Singh Commission. He stated that his Government would comply with the Orders of the Hon' Punjab & Haryana High Court and ensure that no untoward incident is allowed to happen.The State Government today, late in the evening, swung into action to implement the decision of the Punjab & Haryana High Court which imposed important security related restrictions while allowing the proposed rally by the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) in District Faridkot.Disclosing this today, an official spokesman of the Government stated that the Home Department had issued an advisory to the Districts on the perceived threat to law and order in the State. This was based on certain reliable Intelligence inputs.
Since the State Government machinery was also involved in the conduct of elections to the Zila Parishads and Panchayat Samitis , there was a large deployment of police personnel in election related duties and, therefore, providing adequate security for large rallies was very difficult.The SDM Faridkot had accordingly disallowed permission for a large rally at Faridkot after assessing the unavailability of adequate security force in the District to manage the same.The spokesman added that when the Hon' Punjab & Haryana issued an ex-parte order staying this order of the SDM, the Department of Home Affairs, Government of Punjab immediately moved the court highlighting the security concerns of the State and urging a recall of the order. The Advocate General, appearing for the Government, urged the Court to convene a special hearing late in the evening which was agreed upon by the Court after appreciating the genuine concerns put forth in the arguments.During the special hearing, the State Government urged the Court to recall or modify its earlier order of allowing the political rally of SAD(B), as this order had been passed without allowing the State Government to argue its case.Based on the strong arguments put forth by the State Government, the Hon High Court appreciated the genuine concerns raised by the State and agreed to modify its initial order and imposed certain important restrictions on the conduct of the rally. The spokesmen added that the restrictions imposed by the Court have now restrained the SAD(B) from using certain traffic routes, and prohibited the carrying of arms by persons attending the Rally