A day after Punjab Cabinet accepted the resignation of the newly appointed Advocate General (AG) APS Deol whose ouster was demanded by the Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, former state Congress president Sunil Jakhar termed Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi as a ‘really’ compromised CM.
Reacting to the AG’s ouster following Sidhu’s pressure, Jakhar in a tweet said, “The ouster of a competent yet ‘allegedly’ compromised officer has exposed a ‘really’ compromised CM.” “Giving rise to a pertinent question – Whose government is it anyway?”
The ouster of a competent yet 'allegedly' compromised officer has exposed a 'really' compromised CM.
Giving rise to a pertinent question-
Whose government is it Anyway ?
(*Apologies to BBC's radio drama – Whose line is it Anyway)
— Sunil Jakhar (@sunilkjakhar) November 10, 2021
Another senior Congress leader Manish Tewari, who is a Member of Parliament from Anandpur Sahib, took a swipe at his own party government over the issue, saying politicising the AG’s office “undermines” the integrity of Constitutional functionaries.
Tewari in a series of tweets said both previous advocate generals of Punjab became “punching bags in proxy political wars”.
“Those who subvert the institution of AG’s office need to remember a lawyer is neither wedded to a client or a brief,” Tewari tweeted.
He said since the Punjab government is going to appoint a new advocate general, they would be well advised to peruse rules of professional standards prescribed by the Bar Council of India.
Hitting out at Deol on Monday, Sidhu said a lawyer who procured blanket protection for the police in the 2015 Kotkapura firing on a gathering of Sikh demonstrators did not have moral or ethical right to continue.
Sidhu had been pushing for Deol’s replacement as the latter as a lawyer had represented former Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini in cases related to the 2015 desecration incidents and police firing on protesters.
Deol was appointed by the Channi government after the post fell vacant following the resignation of the 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 in 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.