: The Punjab and Haryana high court on Tuesday dismissed a plea from former State Women Commission chairperson Manisha Gulati, who had been removed from the post on March 7. The plea was dismissed by the bench of justice Anil Kshetarpal and the detailed order is awaited.
Gulati had moved the high court on March 15, a week after being removed from her post. She had earlier been removed on January 31, 2023, but the order was subsequently withdrawn.
Appointed as the commission chairperson in March 2018 during the then Congress-led government headed by Captain Amarinder Singh, she had gotten an extension of her tenure from March 2023 to March 2024.
The plea in the HC termed the government order “erroneous”, passed without giving any notice to her. The order was also “without jurisdiction and clear case of abuse of power with pre-determined mind”, it alleged.
The government, meanwhile, had defended its decision and denied allegations that it was “based on political considerations”.