E-Paper
Punjab AG hits back, says Sidhu obstructing govt functioning
In strongly worded statement, APS Deol accuses Punjab Congress chief of spreading misinformation for political gains, says his utterances seek to derail earnest efforts of government to ensure justice in the “drugs matter and sacrilege cases”
Punjab advocate general APS Deol on Saturday hit back at Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu, accusing him of obstructing the functioning of the state government and AG’s office as well as spreading misinformation to gain advantage over his political colleagues.
Also read: Sidhu targets Punjab CM on delay in justice in sacrilege, drug cases
In a strongly worded statement, Deol said that Sidhu’s repeated utterances seek to derail the earnest efforts of the Punjab government to ensure justice in the “drugs matter and sacrilege cases”.
“There is a concerted attempt by vested interests to malign the functioning of the Congress party in view of coming elections in the state for their selfish political gain by politicising the constitutional office of the advocate general of Punjab,” he said.
Deol’s remarks came a day after Sidhu, while withdrawing his resignation as Punjab Congress president, put the former’s removal as a precondition for resuming his duties. The reply is being seen in Congress circles as a counterpunch from the advocate general who had put in his papers four days ago under intense pressure from the state chief of the ruling party. However, his resignation is still to be accepted.
As a lawyer, Deol had represented former director general of police Sumedh Singh Saini, who headed the state police during the incidents of sacrilege and police firing on protesters six years ago.
Sidhu was opposed to his appointment as the AG by chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, who took the reins of the Congress government in Punjab following Capt Amarinder Singh’s resignation on September 18, for this reason and has been pressing for Deol’s removal.
Sidhu had resigned from his post on September 28, triggering a fresh crisis in the state Congress ahead of the assembly elections. He had earlier indicated that Deol’s appointment along with that of IPS officer Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota as the director general of police were part of the reason he quit.
