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Sidhu prevails, Channi cabinet accepts Punjab A-G Deol’s resignation
Chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi made the announcement at his press conference after a meeting of the state cabinet, giving into the pressure mounted by the state unit chief Navjot Sidhu for the advocate general APS Deol’s removal
Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu had his way on Tuesday with chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi declaring that the state cabinet has accepted the resignation of advocate general APS Deol with immediate effect.
Channi made the announcement at his press conference after a meeting of the state cabinet, giving into the pressure mounted by the state unit chief for the advocate general’s removal. “The A-G had resigned a few days ago. The cabinet accepted it today. We will now send it to the state governor. Tomorrow, the new AG will be appointed,” he said, with Sidhu in tow. Deol was made the advocate general on September 27.
On the appointment of new director general of police (DGP), the CM said the state government had sent the names of all (IPS) officers with more than 30 years of service and the central government would give a panel of names for the post. “We will appoint the DGP from that panel,” he said. There was a tense standoff between Sidhu and Channi for over a month over the appointment of Deol as the advocate general and IPS officer Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota as the DGP. As a lawyer, Deol had represented former director general of police (DGP) Sumedh Singh Saini, who headed the state police at the time of sacrilege incident and police firing on protesters six years ago. The Punjab Congress chief was opposed to Deol’s appointment for this reason and kept pressing for his replacement.
Sidhu had resigned from his post six weeks ago and later indicated these senior appointments were part of the reason he quit. He, while withdrawing his resignation last week, put Deol’s removal as a precondition for resuming his duties. Though Deol had submitted his resignation to the chief minister on November 1, it was accepted only after Sidhu, at a press conference on Monday, again hit out at the AG and DGP, asking the state government to “(either) choose the compromised officers or the PPCC chief”.
Congress’ Punjab affairs in-charge had to step in immediately to organise a meeting to placate the state unit president. After the meeting, cabinet minister Raj Kumar Verka had hinted at the government’s willingness to replace the advocate general by saying “if there is a need to replace any officer, it will be done”.
Last week, Deol had also accused Sidhu of obstructing the functioning of the state government and AG’s office as well as spreading misinformation to gain advantage over his political colleagues. “Sidhu’s repeated utterances seek to derail the earnest efforts of the Punjab government to ensure justice in the “drugs matter and sacrilege case,” he had stated in a strongly-worded statement. With Deol’s exit, the PPCC chief has claimed his first scalp in the Channi government.
