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Trade promotion tour: Punjab govt moves HC as Centre denies clearance for France visit
It’s unfortunate that permission to travel for Punjab’s interests is not being granted, while PM Narendra Modi keeps visiting countries whose names we have hardly even heard of, says Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann
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The Punjab government on Thursday moved the high court challenging Centre’s move to deny permission to a delegation led by chief minister Bhagwant Mann for an official visit to France.
The denial of approval to the visit, which is meant to promote trade, is “arbitrary,” the petition filed by secretary, department of cooperation, Punjab, Ritu Aggarwal, said.
In January too, the MEA had refused political clearance to Mann and Punjab industries minister Sanjeev Arora for a proposed visit to the United Kingdom and Israel in February to invite business leaders to invest in state.
The current visit was in connection with participation of the Punjab State Cooperative Supply and Marketing Federation Ltd. (MARKFED), the apex cooperative of the state, in the international food trade show, SIAL 2026, being held in Paris from October 17 to October 21. The MARKFED was allotted stall in India Pavilion by the agricultural and processed food products export development authority (APEDA), which is a body under the Union ministry of commerce and industry.
The Punjab department of cooperation had approached the ministry of external affairs for clearance vide letters dated 03.09.2026 and 08.09.2026, and the online application was submitted on 09.09.2026 — more than five weeks in advance, said the petition. “The Indian Mission in France had been consulted, administrative approval and cadre clearance had been granted, and the entire expenditure is to be borne by MARKFED. Despite this, the application has simply been shown as ‘DENIED’ on the portal. No reason has been given and no opportunity was afforded to the petitioner,” it claimed.
The petition was taken up by the bench of justice Tribhuvan Dahiya who posted the matter for Friday while recording that “additional solicitor general of India seeks a short accommodation to get instructions and file affidavit with an advance copy to learned counsel representing the petitioner”.
Mann was to depart on October 15 as business meetings with officials of the Embassy of India in France and prospective importers, international food companies, trade associations and investors were on the cards. He was to be accompanied by the chief secretary and the principal secretary to chief minister.
The petition says the Centre’s action of denying clearance “without assigning any reason” is “non-speaking, arbitrary and without the authority of any law”. It amounts to unwarranted interference by the central government in matters falling within the executive power of the state under Article 162 of the Constitution and strikes at the federal structure of the Constitution, the petition claimed demanding that Centre’s decision be quashed and it be directed to grant political clearance. Besides, records pertaining to the denial order passed by the ministry of external affairs be summoned.
The plea claims that Punjab being one of the leading agricultural states of the country, there is a growing need to promote diversification, value addition, food processing, branding and international marketing of agricultural and processed food products of local origin.
Punjab argued that the requirement of obtaining political clearance for foreign visits of chief ministers, ministers and officers of the state governments is not provided under any Act of Parliament. It is based only upon office memoranda and instructions issued from time to time by the cabinet secretariat and the MEA.
“These instructions do not lay down any criteria or guidelines for grant or refusal of political clearance, do not provide any time limit for deciding the application, do not require any reasons to be recorded or communicated and do not provide for any appeal or review,” it claimed, adding that in August, 2024 also, political clearance was denied to Mann for his visit to Paris, claiming that he being a Z-plus protectee, his level of security could not be arranged at short notice. However, no such reason exist in present case as the Centre was informed more than one month in advance.
The government claims that the pattern of refusals to the functionaries of states of political opponents other than the party in power at the Centre, show that the refusals are actuated by “extraneous considerations”. Citing examples, the petition said Punjab assembly Vidhan Sabha was denied permission in August 2024, the chief minister, Delhi, was denied permission for Copenhagen trip in 2019 and Singapore in 2022, and the health minister of Kerala in June, 2024. These states at that point of time had opposition governments with Delhi having AAP government.
