The deputy CM along with his wife union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal owns the bus company – Orbit Aviations. Among the accused is the conductor of the bus.
Outrage in Moga district of Punjab grew on Friday as the father of the 13-year-old girl who died after she was molested by six men and thrown off a bus demanded a case against deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal.
The deputy CM along with his wife union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal owns the bus company – Orbit Aviations. Among the accused is the conductor of the bus.
With the victim's mother, who too was pushed out of the bus, still recovering at Moga Civil Hospital, the family refused to cremate the girl's body. The apparently turned down a compensation of Rs 20 lakh on the grounds that their demand must be met first.
Moga SSP JS Khaira said currently there is no cause to summon or question the bus owners. "This was done by the employees," he said, adding, "There has to be culpability or participation or some knowledge of the act on part of the owners if they are to be questioned. Our investigation is on. Let us see where it goes."
Opposition party leaders and the public have demanded action against the Badals citing the Uber rape case and the Nirbhaya gang rape. In both cases, the owners of the vehicles were pulled into the investigation, they said.
Supreme Court lawyer Kamini Jaiswal said the same rules should apply in this case too. "The owners should at least be summoned and questioned to see how they hire their employees, whether they conduct any background checks. They're providing a public service after all." She said the police should not treat the bus owners any different because of their positions.
Lawyer and Rajya Sabha MP Majeed Memon said that in a case where a serious offence has been committed on a public transport, cops do summon the owners to verify the validity of ownership documents and various licences.
"They also try to find out as to how and in what circumstances the vehicle was given in charge of the people who may have been involved in the crime. In Mr Badal's case, there cannot be a different method of investigation of any latitude of leniency given."
Meanwhile, the cops' role too came under a cloud after the girl's father, Sukhdev Singh, told TV channels that they had taken his thumb impression on some papers without explaining him the contents.
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