Use of GSRTC bus for GKM no wrong: HC

A PIL challenging the use of Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC) buses for the 'Garib Kalyan Melas' (GKM) of the state government was on Thursday dismissed by the Gujarat High Court on the grounds that it was devoid of merits. A division bench headed by the Chief Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya observed that since GSRTC was fully controlled by the state government there was nothing wrong in using its buses for state government function. Moreover, the corporation has power to allot buses for ancillary services and giving buses on heir for GKM could be termed as ancillary services. Also, the court observed that GKM being state government function, money spend on it cannot be termed as a waste. The petitioner Gramin Majdoor Sabha, an NGO, had filed the PIL early this year questioning the use of state transport corporation buses for the GKM and expenditure on the event. GKMs are attended by Chief Minister Narendra Modi, where benefits to underprivileged and Below Poverty Line families are handed out.