A month on, no decision on Manish’s resignation as AAG

The Congress had been objecting to his appointment, accusing BJP of nepotism as Manish’s father Jogaram Patel is the law minister.

However, Manish’s resignation is yet to be accepted even after a month and he continues to appear as the AAG in the Principal Seat of the Rajasthan High Court in Jodhpur. When contacted about the status of his resignation, he said, “it is not in my knowledge.”

His father, Law Minister Jogaram Patel, too told The Indian Express that he is not aware about an update on Manish’s resignation, “It was pending with the CM, he had given (his resignation) there.”

In one of the more recent cases, Manish appeared as the AAG, in a Civil Writ by Rajkumari Purohit versus the State of Rajasthan, on September 21.

In June, Manish was assigned matters related to Panchayati Raj, Rural Development, Personnel, Public Works Department, etc. He had been appointed as an AAG on March 12 this year.

In August, the Congress had raised the issue of the appointment of government lawyers – Manish in particular – in the Assembly.

Led by Leader of Opposition Tikaram Jully, the party had questioned why these appointments were made under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) instead of the new Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and alleged “impropriety” in Manish’s appointment. The Congress also charged that Speaker Vasudev Devnani did not want a discussion in the House on the issue.

Over the course of the Congress’s protests, MLA Mukesh Bhakar was suspended from the session and then for a six-month period for refusing to leave the House. Bhakar had said it was an “unconstitutional decision” that was made “under pressure from the BJP government”.

“We wanted to speak on the issue of the illegal appointment of the minister’s son (Manish) and we wanted the minister (Jogaram) to reply,” said Bhakar.

In the Assembly, though, the BJP had defended Manish’s appointment. “Being a minister’s son is not a crime. He must have been appointed on the basis of his abilities,” BJP’s chief whip Jogeshwar Garg had said.

Later, while addressing a press conference alongside Garg, Jogaram said the Congress’s allegations were “baseless” and made “only to waste time”. On the issue of appointments under the CrPC rather than the BNS, he had said when a process starts under one law, then it must be finished under the same law. He maintained that Manish was appointed legally on the basis of his abilities.

Jogaram, in response to Manish’s resignation, had also said his son’s own practice might have been affected by his appointment as the AAG. “He has his own legal practice, has an office and a lot of work. Maybe his work was being affected (due to the appointment) so he met the CM personally and requested (to be relieved of the post),” the minister had said.

So far, resignation of cabinet minister Kirodi Lal Meena has also been pending with the CM for over four months.

Congress spokesperson Swarnim Chaturvedi said that the government should take a decision soon and refrain from misleading the public.

“A message was sent among the public that the AAG has resigned but in reality, there has been no decision on it yet. Whether it accepts or rejects, the government should take a decision at the earliest.” Citing Meena, whose resignation is also pending, Chaturvedi said it should be resolved too, “People don’t know whom to approach for issues related to Disaster Management, Agriculture, etc.”