Capt Amarinder Singh-led Congress Government appears to have been cornered with two of the Chief Minister’s loyalists out of power less than a year after taking over Punjab reigns.
After Capt Amarinder’s confidant Rana Gurjeet Singh was made to resign by the party high command following series of allegations in sand mining against him, the Chief Minister on Wednesday suffered another setback with the Punjab and Haryana High Court setting aside his chief principal secretary Suresh Kumar’s appointment terming it as against the Constitution.
Kumar’s appointment was amongst the first ones after Capt Amarinder took over as the state Chief Minister considering his clean record, hardworking attitude, and honest past.
But the unbridled powers given by the Chief Minister to the retired IAS officer ruffled many feathers in the government, besides the Congress legislators.
In fact, the opposition has all along been attacking the Congress Government for being governed by the babus with Kumar taking majority of decisions.
If rumours in the corridors of power are to be believed, a petition against Kumar was an “inside job”. Even though it was argued that the case was filed by a person owing allegiance to the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and even contested by an advocate close to SAD leaders, fingers were pointed against a couple of IAS officers and also at a senior government functionary.
Moreover, Kumar requested the Chief Minister to hire a senior lawyer to contest his case from New Delhi despite having a robust team of law officers in the state, led by Capt Amarinder’s another loyalist Advocate-General Atul Nanda.
Sources indicated that Kumar and Nanda does not enjoy good relations that was why retired bureaucrat sought a senior lawyer from Delhi — something the two always disagree with.
Notably, the petition for Kumar’s removal was not defended by Nanda and senior advocate Ranjit Kumar was engaged by the State Government.
WHAT WENT AGAINST KUMAR
Capt Amarinder has given a whole bunch of powers to Kumar, including the one taking decision in crisis situation in the Chief Minister’s absence — something that did not went down well with many in the government, including some of the ministers, the MLAs.
In fact, the Single Bench of Justice Rajan Gupta too held that Kumar was given “wide discretion to take decisions in State affairs”. “Over-riding powers had been vested in CPSCM’s post. Even consultation with the ministers and administrative secretaries was not necessary in view of powers bestowed by virtue of a standing order,” the bench observed.
Justice Gupta also underlined that any intentional or unintentional lapse on his part could not be questioned by any disciplinary authority, besides he was also not bound by the oath of secrecy, having superannuated from regular service.
WHAT NEXT
Facing embarrassment, Punjab Government is considering to explore all available legal options after going through the judgement.
“The future course of action would be determined after examining the judgment,” said Nanda. He said that the judgment is fairly detailed and is currently under examination by the Government.