Faridkot, March 14: The Faridkot district court has ordered the seizure of two buses operated by a transport company linked to ruling party MLA Hardeep Singh Dhillon. The decision comes as part of execution proceedings for a 1989 fatal accident case involving the death of Mukhtiar Chand.
The court dismissed claims from the transport firm that it was not liable for the payment due to changes in its corporate structure. Judge Krishan Kant Jain maintained that M/s Deep Bus Service Private Limited and M/s New Deep Bus Service are essentially the same business operating under different names.
“The various formations of the transport service appear to be managed by the same group of persons,” the judge declared.
The original tribunal award from 1992 had mandated a payment of Rs 1.08 lakh plus interest. After the firm moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the compensation was eventually raised to Rs 3.31 lakh in 2016. Despite the passage of nearly four decades, the family of the victim had yet to receive the full settlement, leading to the 2024 execution request.
The transport company had affirmed in its filing that the order could not be executed against the current entity, M/s New Deep Bus Service, as it differed from the firm named in the initial award. The court, however, found no merit in this distinction and ordered warrants of attachment against any two buses owned by the group.
To ensure the order is carried out, the court has requested police intervention. The local SHO is tasked with helping the bailiff secure the vehicles if they are found within the Faridkot limits.
The court further maintained that the legal tactics used by the firm were an attempt to bypass a longstanding judicial mandate.
