It’s Governor versus State Government in Punjab, once again. In a fresh round of face-off between the two, Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit has now raised objection over the appointment of Punjab Agriculture University’s (PAU) Vice-Chancellor asking the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to remove the incumbent Satbir Singh Gosal from the coveted post “without any further delay”, terming his appointment as “totally illegal”.
The Governor, in a one-page crisp communique addressed to the Chief Minister, said that Gosal was appointed “without following UGC norms and approval of the Chancellor”.
“This act of the Government of Punjab is totally illegal and cannot be accepted by any logic,” said the Governor, who is also the Chancellor of prestigious PAU.
Mincing no words, the Governor has asked the Chief Minister “to remove the said Vice-Chancellor, which has been illegally appointed, without any further delay”. At the same time, the Governor has asked the Chief Minister to initiate the process of appointing PAU’s new VC “in consultation with the Chancellor”.
In the letter, the Governor has asked the Chief Minister that the charge of the PAU Vice-Chancellor may be handed over to the Administrative Secretary of the Agriculture Department, till the appointment of a new VC. “You are also requested to instruct your concerned Department to initiate the process of the appointment of the new Vice-Chancellor, in consultation with the Chancellor. I hope you will realize the seriousness of the issue and take corrective measures immediately in the right spirit,” said the Governor.
The order comes just about a week after the Governor had raised objection over the State Government’s move to appoint renowned cardiologist Dr Gurpreet Singh Wander as the Vice-Chancellor of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS), Faridkot, pointing out that “proper procedure has not been followed”, while seeking a panel for the post.
The Governor, who is also Chancellor of the BFUHS-Faridkot, rejected the State Government's proposal to appoint Dr Wander as BFUHS VC pointing that the Government “violated the rules” by recommending only one name.
Notably, the Chief Minister had announced Dr Wander’s name even before the go-ahead by the Governor-cum-varsity Chancellor. The post has been lying vacant since July after Dr Raj Bahadur resigned citing “humiliation” by health minister Chetan Singh Jauramajra.
At odds with one another since the previous month, the Governor is apparently disposing of what the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led State Government is proposing — from withdrawing his consent to convene a special assembly session to seek “trust vote” to raising objections over the appointments of state’s prestigious universities.
In another round of face-off, Governor Purohit on Tuesday rejected the State Government's proposal to appoint cardiologist Dr Gurpreet Singh Wander as the new vice-chancellor of Baba Farid University pointing that the Government “violated the rules” by recommending only one name.
The confrontation between the two started in September when the Governor withdrew his consent given to convene the special assembly session to move the ‘confidence motion’ citing rules. The differences escalated when Purohit sought the details of the legislative businesses to be taken up in the proposed September 27 session. The AAP Government mentioned other businesses but went on to introduce and pass the confidence motion amidst Opposition’s walkout, virtually hoodwinking the Governor.
Later, the Governor took strong exception to Mann’s absence at the reception organized in the honour of President Droupadi Murmu at Punjab Raj Bhavan, Chandigarh, during her visit to the city, saying that constitutional obligations have to be met on such occasions.
Before that, the Governor had also took a long time to clear a Bill with respect to the ‘one-MLA-one-pension scheme’ of the Government.
AAP hits back at Guv; BJP slams AAP
A war of words erupted between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party over the fresh row.
Punjab Agriculture Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal minced no words to accuse the Governor of working at the behest of the BJP. “The Governor should read the Act first. The university doesn’t come under UGC. It is a letter drafted by the BJP and not the Governor,” he said.
Accusing the AAP Government of deliberately disgracing the Governor’s constitutional status, BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh said that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was deliberately trying to run down the grace and dignity of the Governor’s office repeatedly.
Commenting on the Punjab Governor’s order to the chief minister to remove the newly appointed PAU VC Dr Gosal, Chugh said it was the second incident within a fortnight in which the Chief Minister had violated the constitutional provisions to disgrace the Governor.
He said that the AAP Government was deliberately challenging the Governor’s authority and is thus causing a constitutional breakdown in the state. “Such incidents are not only bringing disgrace to the accomplished personalities but are also demonstrating how bankrupt the state government has become in discharging its responsibilities and duties," Chugh added.
Chugh said that the AAP Government was deliberately and calculatedly trying to disgrace the constitutional institutions to earn cheap popularity. He said that the Chief Minister was challenging the rights and duties of the Punjab governor which was a grave sign for the state.
Dr Gosal — a Biotech expert
Dr Satbir Singh Gosal, a renowned agricultural biotechnologist, was appointed PAU VC on august 20. He has the distinction of developing tissue culture methods for more than 20 crop plants, based on which several commercial tissue culture units have been established in Punjab. He is also the recipient of prestigious Fellowships by The Royal Society London and The Rockefeller Foundation (USA) for his Post-Doctoral research at the University of Nottingham, and John Innes Centre Norwich, England.
All through his career, Dr Gosal served at PAU in various capacities — head of Department of Biotechnology, Founder Director of School of Agricultural Biotechnology, Additional Director of Research (Agriculture), and Director of Research, besides being a member of the Board of Management, PAU. Dr Gosal also played a significant role in developing tissue culture and micropropagation protocols for several crop plants such as sugarcane, potato, gladiolus, chrysanthemum, carnation, lilium, citrus, banana, strawberry, eucalyptus, neem, poplar, paulownia, brahmi, safed musli and aloe vera.