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Journalism of Courage
Less than 24 hours after Punjab government appointed Aam Aadmi Party leader and Rajya Sabha member Raghav Chadha as the chairman of a temporary advisory panel, a lawyer filed a public interest litigation in the Punjab and Haryana High Court terming the move as “illegal,” “arbitrary”, and “in exercise of non-existent laws of the state and central governments.
The plea, filed by Advocate Jagmohan Singh Bhatti is yet to come up for hearing.
Bhatti, in his petition, contended that the appointment of Chadha, a Rajya Sabha member and an “outsider not being a part of the state legislative assembly”, in the minister rank was in violation of the Constitution.
The Punjab government, through chief secretary on July 6, issued notification stating that Punjab CM “has undertaken a review of the working of government at various levels and is of the view that a body (temporary in nature) is required to tender advice” to the government of Punjab on matters of public importance pertaining to public administration. “Therefore, it has been decided to constitute a temporary Committee to advise the government of Punjab on matters of public importance pertaining to public administration as and when such advice is sought from it,” read the notification.
The terms of the committee are such that it can be led by a parliamentarian without violating the office of profit rule. The committee chairperson and its members will not be entitled to any compensation or remuneration. “They shall not even be entitled to payments that are compensatory in reimbursements,” added the notification. With the constitution of the committee, its chairperson would be able to be a part of official meetings and give his advice to the government on paper.
Bhatti has contended in his petition that the notification was in violation of the constitutional mandate and amounts to a “parallel government within the government”, which was not permissible.
He contended that the chief secretary had no such power to issue a notification regarding the temporary advisory committee. Its “bare reading shows that the CM is of the view that a body (temporary in nature) is required to tender advice to the Government of Punjab on matters of public importance (not specified)”, said the petitioner, adding it amounted to “inviting multiple people to run the affairs of the alleged temporary and ad hoc committee”.
“An additional burden on the State Public Exchequer by way of providing the staff and infrastructure has been created and the funds meant for the development of the State of Punjab cannot be diverted under such camouflage,” he submitted,
The petitioner has mentioned that Chadha is “directly and indirectly related to Arvind Kejriwal, convener of Aam Aadmi Party”.
He further contended that “a minister rank has been conferred” on Chadha. The petitioner submitted that the ministerial rank “amounts to a berth in the Cabinet which is not permissible constitutionally and the same is illegal and arbitrary as it has been done at the instance of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.”
Notably, after Chadha was appointed as the chairman of the advisory committee, the opposition parties targeted the AAP-led government, accusing Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann of “reaffirming his rubber stamp status and making Chadha as de facto CM”.
Bhatti has sought that HC issue directions to Punjab Chief Secretary that no financial benefits be extended to the “illegal chairman or his staff or infrastructure” at the cost of the public exchequer and that “his disqualification motion may be ordered to be set in motion”. He also sought to freeze the salaries, other financial benefits and facilities provided to Chadha and the members of the advsiory panel.
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