Punjab Cabinet accepts Advocate General APS Deol’s resignation
Navjot Singh Sidhu had said that he will resume working as the chief of the state party unit only if Deol was replaced.
Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Tuesday accepted Advocate General APS Deol’s resignation – a demand made by Congress leader Navjot Sidhu, PTI reported. Last week , Sidhu had said that he will resume working as the chief of the Punjab Congress unit only if the state gets a new advocate general.
A new advocate general will be appointed on Wednesday, Channi said.
Deol had resigned as the advocate general on November 1, The Indian Express reported. The government had scheduled a discussion on his resignation in the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
Sidhu has been opposing Deol’s appointment to the post of advocate general as he had represented former Punjab police chief Sumedh Saini, one of the accused in a case related to the desecration of Sikh holy book Guru Granth Sahib and police firing on protestors.
Deol was also responsible for ensuring that Saini got bail in four cases registered by the Punjab Police.
Deol was appointed to the post after Charanjit Singh Channi became the chief minister of Punjab on September 20. Sidhu had quit as the party’s state unit chief on September 28 as he was purportedly upset about the appointment.
Meanwhile, Deol on Saturday said that Sidhu’s statements have sought to derail the efforts of the state government to “ensure justice in the drugs matter and sacrilege cases”.
The “drugs matter” pertains to widespread use of drugs in the state. In a plea filed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Lawyers for Human Rights International has alleged that the matter relates to the drug mafia operating in the state and has international links.