High court notice to Punjab on DSP job to Beant’s grandson

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana high court on Wednesday put Punjab government on notice on a petition filed by Tarn Taran resident challenging appointment of Guriqbal Singh, grandson of late chief minister, Beant Singh, as deputy superintendent of police (DSP) on compassionate grounds.

The petitioner, Praveen Kumar, has sought quashing of the appointment arguing that it was in violation of Punjab Police Service Rules 1959 as Singh has crossed age eligibility and the family is not in need of the job.

The plea stated that Singh had crossed maximum age of 28 years for direct recruitment as DSP. The finance department had also objected to the appointment stating that it was not “legally valid”, the court was told adding that even the Supreme Court has also held that compassionate job cannot be given to a “capable” person.

Guriqbal Singh alias Honey is the youngest grandson of Beant Singh who was assassinated in 1995. He is the brother of Ludhiana MP Ravneet Bittu and a cousin of Khanna MLA Gurkirat Kotli.

It was argued that objective of the compassionate appointment is to give succour to the family which has been suddenly plunged into penury due to the untimely death of the sole breadwinner. However, Singh’s family members are having political status as almost all family members are in politics, said the petitioner. The response has been sought by December 5 from the government.