Former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu is facing one bouncer after another over the issue of his television appearance, ever since he started his new inning as Punjab Cabinet Minister.
Even as Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh gave a go-ahead to his local Bodies Minister to continue working for a popular television show on the advise of State Advocate General Atul Nanda, Sidhu’s decision to balance his two jobs simultaneously has reached the corridors of justice on Friday.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court, hearing a public interest litigation filed by advocate HC Arora against Sidhu's appearance on ‘The Kapil Sharma Show’, has raised the question of propriety in the matter.
The High Court’s Division Bench of Justice SS Saron and Justice Darshan Singh asked the Punjab Government if it was appropriate for the Cabinet Minister Sidhu to appear on a television show.
The Bench, during the hearing, observed that the dispute over Sidhu’s continued appearance on television despite his position involved two aspects: legal and moral.
The mater will now come up for hearing on May 11.
Arora, in his petition, maintained that it was “inappropriate” for a Cabinet Minister to appear on a television show, citing a Full Bench judgment of Andhra Pradesh High Court that said a Chief Minister could not act in films.
The court had said the rule also applied to Ministers, Arora said.
Arora added that Sidhu’s position as Culture Minister — under which entertainment comes — could also give rise to a “conflict of interest”.
The petition argued that a Minister is bound by Rule 15 of the Punjab Government Employees Conduct Rules, 1966, which forbids a Government employee from engaging in private trade or business.
The development assumes significance as State AG Nanda, in his report, maintained that no conflict of interest was found between Sidhu's office as a State Cabinet Minister and his work on television shows.
Capt Amarinder had also maintained that there was now no hindrance to Sidhu's continuing on TV shows, nor any need to change his portfolio.