Gov questions Mann; CM says not answerable to Centre’s man

The Punjab government had sent 36 government school principals to Singapore on February 4 for a professional teacher’s training course.

They returned on February 11 and were welcomed by Mann and his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal in the national capital.

“I have received complaints in respect to the selection of principals for sending them to Singapore for training.

The complainants pointed out certain malpractices and illegalities in the selection process. The allegation is that there is no transparency,” Purohit said in his letter.

“I, therefore, request you to send me criteria and details of entire selection process. Please, also give details if it was widely published throughout Punjab. As per news reports, since the first batch has come back, please let me have details of total expenditure incurred on travelling and boarding lodging and expenses towards training,” he said.

The Governor also attached four letters written to the CM in the past, pertaining to allegations of misconduct against IPS officer Kuldeep Singh Chahal, who was shunted out as Chandigarh SSP but has been posted as Commissioner of Police, Jalandhar; presence of IIT graduate Naval Aggarwal in officials meeting despite not being appointed to any post; and two lakh Schedule Caste students allegedly being forced to discontinue their studies due to non disbursal of scholarship by state government.

Purohit also questioned the appointment of Gurinderjit Singh Jawanda, as chairperson, Punjab Information and Communication and Technology Corporation Limited, “which is very important and prestigious corporation” of Punjab.

“I have been made aware that the name of Jawanda appears in a kidnapping and property grabbing case,” the Governor wrote.

The Governor also sought a reply to his earlier communication dated November 23, 2022 asking Mann to remove the “illegally appointed Vice-Chancellor of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU)”.

Mann had on August 20 announced the appointment of Dr Satbir Singh Gosal, a biotechnologist, as PAU’s V-C. While Purohit had asked the CM to rescind the appointment, Mann had dug in his heels and asked Dr Gosal to continue.

Raising the issue of Chahal, Purohit said that “in spite” of his detailed letter dated December 14, 2002, Mann “chose to ignore all misdeeds” of the IPS officer. “You have not only promoted him but also posted him as Commissioner of Jalandhar and that too the orders being issued just before January 26, knowing very well that Governor was to unfurl the national flag at Jalandhar. I had to instruct the DGP that concerned officer should maintain distance during ceremony. On this issue it seems that this officer was your blue-eyed boy and you chose to ignore facts that were brought to your notice,” Purohit said in his letter.

A 2009-batch officer, Chahal is facing a CBI enquiry for alleged corruption and misconduct during his tenure as the SSP, Chandigarh. The CBI launched the enquiry on a reference from Purohit, who is also Chandigarh Administrator. Chahal was repatriated in December last year, 10 months before the completion of his three-year tenure as UT SSP. He was on January 21 appointed the Commissioner of Police, Jalandhar.

Raising another issue, the Governor said that in a letter dated January 4, 2023 he wrote about the presence of Naval Aggarwal in meetings of senior officers, where sensitive and confidential matters of security of the country are discussed. “I have not received any reply till date.”

The Governor also said that he had sought details of advertisements being “given to print and electronic media on whims and fancies” but the letter was “lying in cold storage.”

“There are many other points but I have chosen to highlight five sensitive and important points covering safety and security of the state and the country. The entire information, which has been sought by me may at least now be furnished within a fortnight,” the Governor said.

He further said that in one of the letters addressed to hm, Mann had mentioned that he was CM courtesy the heavy mandate by the people of Punjab. “I fully agree with you on this count but you should also keep it in mind that people of the state elected you for running the administration as per the Constitution and not as per (your) whims and fancies. As per Article 167 of the Constitution of India, you are bound to furnish me full details and information asked by me, but you have not furnished the same and never cared to reply and treated all my queries with contempt. To maintain cordial relations I have not revealed these letters to press because I thought you will fulfil the mandate of
the Constitution but now it appears to me that you have decided to ignore my letters and I am compelled to release these letters to the press/media”.

Mann took to Twiiter to respond. “Honorable Governor Sir, your letter was received through the media..all the subjects mentioned in the letter are state subjects. My government and I are accountable to 3 crore Punjabis according to the Constitution and not to any Governor appointed by the central government. Please take this as my reply,” he said in a tweet in Punjabi.

Later, in a statement, Mann said that rather than giving sermons to him, the Governor must focus on smooth discharge of his duties as enshrined in the constitution.

The latest war of words comes days after Purohit virtually put the AAP government in dock over the drug issue, asking it to seek Centre’s help to tackle the menace. The Government had then hit back accusing the Governor of making political speeches and running a “parallel government”.