Punjab to probe panchayat poll faux pas

Sanjeev Singh Bariana

Chandigarh, September 9

The Punjab Government has decided to conduct a high-level inquiry to ascertain the reasons that led to an embarrassing situation for it to withdraw the notification for the recently announced panchayat, panchayat samiti and zila parishad elections.

Confirming the development, a senior official of the state government said: “We will find out as to why the file for the elections was sent by the officers concerned to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Rural Development and Panchayats Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar without pointing out the lacunae in the proposal.”

Delving into reasons

• An official said they would find out why the file on poll was sent by officers concerned to CM and minister without pointing out the lacunae
• Would also look into the last-minute hiring of an ex-Advocate General in SAD-BJP regime as counsel, he added

The official further said they would also look into the last-minute hiring of senior advocate Ashok Aggarwal, a former Advocate General in the SAD-BJP regime, as counsel in the case. “Again, the CM was not informed about the development. The file seeking his (Aggarwal’s) appointment made a mention of the telephonic permissions sought from the Panchayat Minister and the Advocate-General (A-G); however, the file has no signatures of either of the two. We will look into the role of every individual and all departments that were associated with the entire process.” A seasoned High Court lawyer said: “There is nothing illegal in a former A-G associated with another party joining as a counsel. However, it is odd, particularly, when the government has a battery of competent lawyers in its team under A-G Vinod Ghai.”

On August 10, a notification was issued to dissolve rural bodies. This was followed by the withdrawal of the notification on August 31 after Akali leader Gurjeet Singh Talwandi approached the High Court, terming the move illegal. Reacting to the development, a Principal Secretary to a former CM said “Decisions for elections are purely political. In 2002, the Punjab and Haryana High court stalled the Congress government efforts at conducting panchayat elections one year in advance.”

The Opposition has termed the government decision “technically flawed” and unconstitutional. Leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa said bureaucrats were being made scapegoats for an AAP blunder attempting victory in gram panchayats.

Another Principal Secretary said the government would find it difficult to take action against its two suspended IAS officers — Financial Commissioner (Rural Development) DK Tewari and Director of Rural Development and Panchayats Gurpreet Khaira — because they were only executing the assigned task.