Just over a month after Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu questioned the appointed of APS Deol as Advocate General (AG) for Punjab, the senior advocate on Monday handed over his resignation as AG to the Chief Minister, Charanjit Singh Channi.

Deol was appointed by the Channi government after the post fell vacant following the resignation of previous AG, Atul Nanda, soon after Captain Amarinder Singh stepped down as CM. Deol’s appointment had led to a debate from the beginning as he was, at one point of time, the counsel for former top cop Sumedh Singh Saini and inspector general Paramraj Singh Umaranangal, both accused in the Behbal Kalan police firing case.

Deol’s appointment had come as a surprise as incidents of sacrilege and subsequent police firing in Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan in 2015 was considered politically sensitive.

It had also led to a legal debate on the issue of conflict of interest primarily on the grounds that Deol, being Saini and Umaranangal’s counsel, would neither be able to appear nor advise the state in their cases and related matters. Besides, a counsel may be privy to information about a client. Under the circumstances, his role as the state’s highest law officer could be questioned.

Sidhu had publicly questioned Deol’s appointment and even resigned as Punjab Congress chief expressing his inability to ‘compromise’. Deol was appointed as AG rejecting the Punjab Congress chief’s recommendation.

As Sidhu has questioned Deol’s appointment on the ground that he can’t be trusted to ensure justice in sacrilege cases.

Sidhu’s wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu, welcomed the decision. “…Attorney General (APS Deol) had appeared for (former DGP Sumedh Singh) Saini. He (who represented the accused in the 2015 sacrilege case) can’t represent us. The Attorney General had to be changed,” she told reporters. She said there was no conflict between Sidhu and Channi.

“They meet every day and their meetings go on till three in the morning,” the former legislator said, indicating the decision was taken with mutual agreement. The sacrilege cases are politically sensitive, and action on them was one of Congress’s pre-poll promises declared in their election manifesto.