The hostilities between the legislature and the executive appear to have reached a flashpoint in Punjab on Monday with the Ministers demanding the dismissal of the State Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh. The Council of Ministers, led by the Finance Minister Manpreet Badal, also “unanimously” resolved not to attend any cabinet meeting in Karan Avtar’s presence.
The decision was taken “on record” of the Cabinet proceedings after the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh take serious note of the “unofficial agenda” taken up by Manpreet during the Monday’s Cabinet meeting, convened to discuss the changes in the excise policy.
Going into background of the matter, the Chief Secretary and the Ministers entered into a heated exchange of words reportedly on Karan Avtar’s “rude behaviour” while discussing the changes made in the excise policy in the wake of COVID-19 lockdown during the pre-Cabinet meeting on Saturday.
The meeting ended inconclusively after the Ministers, led by Manpreet and Charanjit Singh Channi, decided to “walk out” protesting against Karan Avtar’s “rude behaviour” and “attitude”. The meeting was scheduled to be followed by a Cabinet meeting, to be presided over by the Chief Minister, to decide upon the policy, but the same was deferred for Monday.
Giving an account of the entire incident to the Chief Minister during Monday’s cabinet meeting, Manpreet submitted that he would not attend any meeting in future with the Chief Secretary “as a matter of principle”. His decision was seconded by Channi, following which the Chief Minister asked them to officially record their submissions. Later, all other Ministers also came in their support unanimously.
“Raising the issue at the Cabinet meeting, Manpreet Badal and Charanjit Singh Channi expressed unhappiness over the conduct of the Chief Secretary, which they described as totally incorrect and unacceptable. The Chief Minister said that he was cognizant of their concern and that he would look into the matter after which the aggrieved Ministers left it to the former,” said the government spokesperson.
It has been learnt that the Ministers, during an informal meeting ahead of the Cabinet meeting, had already decided to walk out of the meeting in case the Karan Avtar comes to attend the same.
Even as one of the Ministers tried to appease his irate colleagues appealing to settle the differences with the Chief Secretary, Manpreet continued to hold his ground. “The Ministers were informed that Karan Avtar wanted to apologize. Then some ministers said that the Chief Secretary should be given another opportunity, but Manpreet refused to accept it,” a Minister, requesting anonymity, told The Pioneer.
The Chief Minister told the Cabinet that he had taken note of the complaint against the Chief Secretary by some of the ministers. “Incidentally, the Chief Secretary has taken half day’s leave with my permission and he is not present at today’s meeting,” the Chief Minister told the Ministers during the meeting.
In fact, Karan Avtar was advised to stay away from Monday’s Cabinet meeting. In his place, the Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Satish Chandra was appointed as Cabinet Secretary to officiate the meeting in his absence.
“The Chief Secretary’s behaviour in the past two days was not in line with the important office he holds. As part of unofficial business in the Cabinet, I moved the proposal that I would not attend any meeting if the Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh is present for the same. I was supported by my colleague Charanjit Singh Channi.
Later, we were asked by the Chief Minister to put it on record, and after that, all Cabinet Ministers unanimously supported us,” said Manpreet after the meeting.
Manpreet, at the same time, made it clear that the decision was not because of any ego, but “it has been taken in the highest interest of the state”.
“Manpreet and I pointed that the behaviour of the chief secretary is not acceptable. He is rude and doesn’t understand that officers and elected representatives are two sides of a coin,” said Channi pointing that the Chief Secretary had, at earlier occasions, behaved rudely with him. At the same time, Channi added that the Chief Minister had promised us that he would take action in the matter.
GOVERNANCE CRISIS
The experts have described the developments in Punjab as “governance crisis”. According to the rulebook, the Chief Secretary is the “Secretary to Cabinet” and it is for the first-time in the recallable past that a unanimous decision, to "boycott" the Chief Secretary, is passed by the Council of Minister against the “custodian of all records of the Cabinet”.
As a ‘secretary to the cabinet’ according to the Punjab Government’s Rule of Business, the Chief Secretary is responsible for coordinating all meetings of the Cabinet and signing off on the official records.
INTENSE LOBBYING STARTED
As the trouble started brewing for Karan Avtar Singh, intense lobbying has already started in the state’s bureaucratic circles for the Chief Secretary’s post.
A 1984-batch Punjab cadre IAS officer Karan Avtar was due to retire in August this year. However, with the political bosses demanding his dismissal from the top post, the next-in-line officers started making a pitch for themselves.
Even as the Special Chief Secretary Karan Bir Singh Sidhu, 1984-batch IAS officer, is the senior-most, the Government’s decision to chose the Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Satish Chandra to replace the Chief Secretary for Monday’s Cabinet meeting is seen as a move against his candidature.
While the 1985-batch officer Chandra is seen as the government’s choice, names of two 1987-batch IAS officers are also doing the rounds.
Notably, Karan Avtar Singh was also holding the charge of the Financial Secretary (Taxation) since December 31 last year.