Chandigarh, August 19
The Punjab Government today admitted before the Punjab and Haryana High Court that the Chief Minister had not applied his mind to ascertain the antecedents of businessman-turned-politician Joginder Pal Jain while appointing him as Punjab State Warehousing Corporation chairman.

Hearing a public interest litigation against Jain’s appointment this morning, Punjab Advocate-General Ashok Aggarwal told a Division Bench that Jain had resigned from the post.

The disclosure came just 10 days after the high court was told that Jain had used “forged passport dishonestly and fraudulently with a view to cheat the immigration authorities”; and was released on probation by a Delhi court after he pleaded guilty.

It comes as a major embarrassment for the ruling SAD-BJP coalition, as Jain had recently shifted his loyalties towards the Akali Dal despite being a sitting Congress legislator from Moga. He was later appointed the corporation chairman.

Taking note of the assertion, the Bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Augustine George Masih granted the government two weeks to have a relook and take a decision on his resignation.

During the hearing, Aggarwal made attempts to persuade the Bench that the past antecedents, including his conviction around 20 years ago, did not amount to disqualification for appointment to the post of corporation chairman. But his assertions did not find favour with the Bench.

Speaking for the Bench, the Chief Justice verbally observed: “You are first the officer of this court, and then the officer of the government. Please appreciate that if this (Jain) is the only person available with you in the state for making appointment to this post, perhaps you may be right.

“But if there are some more persons available, one of those can be suitable for appointment to this post. You should take a right decision. Your decision should inspire confidence in public also. Also, please appreciate that the issue before us is a larger issue and not the issue of this particular individual. We hope you (the government) shall take a right decision.”