As is evident from the countless incidents of mob fury across the country, public property is the favourite target of people on the rampage against anything even remotely associated with the government. In Punjab buses owned by the Badals are the first to be ransacked and torched in such incidents.

Now, the two transport companies owned by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his family — Orbit Transport and Dabwali Transport Company — have decided to conceal the buses’ identity by not displaying the companies’ names on a large part of their fleets.

This is in violation of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, which can even lead to cancellation of permit.

A clause in the Act says, “...the name and address of the operator shall be painted or otherwise firmly affixed to every vehicle to which the permit relates, on the exterior of the body of that vehicle on both sides thereof in a colour or colours vividly contrasting to the colour of the vehicle centred as high as practicable, below the window line in bold letters.”

Punitive action remains a distant possibility though, with the Shiromani Akali Dal at the helm of affairs in the state.

Sources in the state transport department confirmed that the two companies were not displaying their names on some buses. An official added, “To completely rule out the possibility of their buses being identified, the buses are now being painted in colours other than the yellow and blue they are popularly associated with.”

... contd.