Navjot Singh Sidhu Gets His Way Again As DS Patwalia Becomes New Advocate General Of Punjab

Navjot Sidhu even stepped down as the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president over the appointments of Deol and Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota as the director-general of police.

File Photo: PTI

New Delhi: Senior advocate DS Patwalia was on Friday appointed as the new advocate general of Punjab. This comes days after the resignation of senior advocate APS Deol was accepted by the Punjab cabinet.

“The Governor of Punjab in exercise of power conferred under Article 165 of the Constitution of India is pleased to appoint Deepinder Singh Patwalia, senior advocate, Punjab, and Haryana High Court, as advocate general for the state of Punjab with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office,” an official order stated, as reported by news agency PTI.

With this, Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu seems to have another win as he is leant to have been pushing for DS Patwalial’s appointment as the state’s top law officer.

DS Patwalia’s name had earlier come up when Charanjit Singh Channi took over as Punjab Chief Minister in September. However, APS Deol was given the charge of the AG at that point.

Navjot Sidhu strongly opposed the appointment of APS Deol, who had represented former Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini in cases related to the 2015 police firing incidents after the desecration of a religious text.

He even stepped down as the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president over the appointments of Deol and Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota as the director-general of police.

Even when the PPCC chief withdrew his resignation, he put a precondition that he would resume the charge the day a new advocate general was appointed and a panel for the appointment of a new director-general of police came from the UPSC.

On November 9, Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi announced that the resignation of APS Deol had been accepted and a new AG would be appointed.

However, the decision was met with criticism from other senior Congress leaders such as Sunil Jakhar and Manish Tewari.

Expressing disappointment over the development, Sunil Jakhar, who was among the frontrunners for post of Punjab Chief Minister after Amarinder Singh’s resignation, wrote in a tweet: “The ouster of a competent yet ‘allegedly’ compromised officer has exposed a ‘really’ compromised CM. Giving rise to a pertinent question - Whose government is it anyway?”

Senior leader Manish Tewari in a series of tweets had alleged that both previous advocate generals of Punjab became “punching bags in proxy political wars”.

“Special circumstances may justify his refusal to accept a particular brief. Politicising AG’s office undermines the integrity of Constitutional functionaries,” he added.

On November 16, Navjot Singh Sidhu resumed the charge at the party’s state office.

(With Agency Inputs)