Punjab: PIL filed against Raghav Chadha's appointment as chairman of advisory panel

A day after the Punjab government appointed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Raghav Chadha as the chairman of the state’s maiden advisory committee, its move has come under the judicial scanner with a public interest litigation (PIL) being filed against the Bhagwant Mann cabinet's decision here on Tuesday.

The petition, however, is yet to come up for hearing.

Challenging the appointment, petitioner advocate Jagmohan Singh Bhatti held that it was illegal, arbitrary and in the exercise of non-existent laws of the State and Central governments.

Bhatti also held that the appointment of Chadha, who is a Rajya Sabha member from Punjab and not a part of the state legislative assembly, was also in violation of the Constitution.

Chadha's appointment as the chairman had evoked criticism from the opposition parties as well.

While Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja accused CM Mann of ceding too much power to Chadha through the committee, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) had flayed the AAP government. Taking a dig at the AAP-led government SAD said the Shiromani Akali Dal said that the move put the “show manager Raghav Chadha formally on stage”.

“The Puppeteer, the puppet and puppetry. The Circus Master removes the curtain, putting the show manager @raghav_chadha formally on stage. SAD tweeted.