Chandigarh: Punjab’s council of ministers is on the warpath with the state’s chief secretary for his allegedly rude behaviour at the last cabinet meeting Saturday.
In an unprecedented move, all ministers resolved not to attend any cabinet meeting where the chief secretary, Karan Avtar Singh, is present. The ministers, led by finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal, told CM Captain Amarinder Singh that they will boycott the top official because of his “attitude”.
Charanjit Singh Channi, minister for technical education, also levelled allegations of conflict of interest against the chief secretary, saying his son Harman Singh had business interests in liquor contracts in Punjab, and was also involved in mining activity earlier.
Karan Avtar Singh, a 1984 batch IAS officer who has been chief secretary of Punjab since Amarinder and the Congress came to power in March 2017, did not attend Monday’s cabinet meeting, and in his absence, home secretary Satish Chandra took over his duties.
This series of events has put CM Amarinder in a spot. He told the ministers that he will take a decision on the matter as soon as possible.
ThePrint made repeated attempts to contact the chief secretary through phone and messages, but got no response. A detailed set of queries was mailed to him regarding the cabinet meeting and the alleged conflict of interest. The story will be updated when he responds.
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What happened Saturday
The ministers took the decision after an ugly spat Saturday — they had walked out of a pre-cabinet meeting protesting the chief secretary’s “rude behaviour”. The decision, taken unanimously, was brought on record of the cabinet proceedings.
That day, the ministers and Karan Avtar Singh had met to discuss changes to be incorporated in the excise policy on account of the Covid-19 lockdown. However, there was an ugly showdown over who was responsible for the gradual decline in excise revenue, and the ministers walked out of the meeting, because of which the cabinet was postponed to Monday.
Monday’s cabinet meeting
The cabinet took up the official agenda first at Monday’s meeting, unanimously resolving to empower the Chief Minister — who also holds the excise and taxation portfolio — to take all the decisions regarding the changes to be incorporated in the excise policy. However, on the issue of the chief secretary’s behaviour, the ministers hardened their stance.
Speaking first, Manpreet Badal said given whatever had transpired Saturday, it would not be possible for him to attend any meeting with the chief secretary.
“I told the cabinet and the Chief Minister that it was not a question of ego. Life is too fragile and transient to harbour any ego. But this was a matter of principles,” Badal told ThePrint after the meeting.
“I also pressed the point that unlike bureaucrats who have a stint for almost 35 years of service, politicians have only five years to prove their mettle, and then they have to go back to the public and hold themselves out to be judged for the work,” he continued.
“Politicians work with a sense of urgency and are under pressure to perform, while bureaucrats have decades to do the same amount of work. This is not the first time that there has been a tiff between the bureaucracy and the politicians.”
Channi agreed with Badal’s decision, saying in a democratic set up, civil servants and politicians are supposed to work in tandem and not be at loggerheads. “But the kind of attitude shown by the chief secretary was unacceptable. I also told the cabinet that the chief secretary had a conflict of interest in deciding about the excise policy of the state, as his son had liquor contracts in the state. He had interest in the mining business of Punjab also,” Channi told ThePrint.
Chief Minister Amarinder then asked the two ministers to officially record whatever they were saying. When the CM asked if the decision taken by these two ministers had the support of the others as well, they unanimously supported their colleagues.
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MLA demands probe too
Ahead of the cabinet meeting, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Congress MLA from Gidderbaha, took to Twitter and also levelled serious allegations of conflict of interest against the chief secretary, demanding a probe.
“Will the Punjab Chief Secretary, Mr Karan Avtar Singh, deny that his only son, Mr Harman Singh has, or has had till very recently, ‘benami’ interest in the lease of the Hamira distillery in Kapurthala district of Punjab, which belongs to Mr Jagjit Industries Ltd (sic),” Warring’s said in the first of multiple tweets.
1: Will the Punjab Chief Secretary, Mr Karan Avtar Singh, deny that his only son, Mr Harman Singh has, or has had till very recently, "benami" interest in the lease of the Hamira distillery in Kapurthala district of Punjab, which belongs to Mr Jagjit Industries Ltd.
— Amarinder Singh Raja (@RajaBrar_INC) May 11, 2020
3: Is the Punjab Chief Secretary, who is also working as the Financial Commissioner Excise and Taxation, aware that a licence to operate a distillery cannot be leased out or sublet, since the Country Liquor Quota stands only and only in the name of the licensee.
— Amarinder Singh Raja (@RajaBrar_INC) May 11, 2020
4 Will the Punjab Chief Secretary deny conflict of interest also in his working as Financial Commissioner Excise & Taxation, in addition to being CS he as FCT recommends ex-Distillery price of spirit & as head of a Committee approves same,that too without calling for any tenders
— Amarinder Singh Raja (@RajaBrar_INC) May 11, 2020
Will the Chief Secretary Punjab be pleased to let us know if every IAS officer is required to declare the business interests of his immediate family members to the State Government,especially if they are covered by the domain of his Department? Is this not a conflict of interest?
— Amarinder Singh Raja (@RajaBrar_INC) May 11, 2020
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