Question mark over new UT Administrator

CHANDIGARH, SEPT 14: With the term of Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Lt Gen B.K.N. Chhibber retd heading for an end on September ...

CHANDIGARH, SEPT 14: With the term of Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Lt Gen B.K.N. Chhibber retd heading for an end on September 17, the question is: Who will be the new incumbent to the Punjab Raj Bhawan in case he does not get an extension?

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has reportedly talked to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Home Minister L.K. Advani seeking a replacement for Lt Gen Chhibber on the expiry of his term. All India Shiromani Akali Dal president Gurcharan Singh Tohra has also made it open that Chhibber should be changed.

It may be recalled that he was on the top of the list of Governors to be replaced by the present BJP-led government at the Centre. It was, however, decided that all Governors would be allowed to complete their tenures.

Under the norms, once the term of the Governor is over, the incumbent has to vacate the Raj Bhawan within 24 hours of the expiry of the term.

The Punjab Governor has been functioning as UT Administrator since 1980s with an officer of the UT cadre as his adviser. Earlier, there was a Chief Commissioner as the head of the UT Administration.

Sources say that while the present caretaker Central government is unlikely to name a regular appointee to the post, the charge may be given either to Haryana Governor Mahabir Prasad or Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court A.B. Saharya. The term of the Haryana Governor is also expiring next year. A regular Governor for Punjab is likely when the new government is installed in Delhi.

Lt Gen Chhibber was appointed Governor when there was a Congress Government both at the Centre and in Punjab after the sudden death of Surender Nath in an air crash. Earlier, he was the security adviser to the State Government. Commissioned in the Regiment of Infantry, he came into limelight as the corps commander in Jalandhar, when he was instrumental in the Army providing the much-needed support to the Punjab Police in combating terrorism.