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Chandigarh : Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra was sworn-in as the chief justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court here on Monday.
Justice Mishra has been functioning as the acting chief justice of the high court here since June.
He was administered oath by Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria at the Lok Bhawan here.
However, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, whose government had opposed Justice Mishra’s appointment, was not present at the oath-taking ceremony.
The Centre notified Justice Mishra’s appointment on Saturday, about a month after the Supreme Court Collegium had recommended his elevation.
The Punjab Cabinet on Sunday evening passed a resolution, asking the Centre not to move forward with the administration of oath to Justice Mishra, till the state government’s concerns are adequately addressed.
The Punjab government claimed that the appointment of Mishra as the chief justice of the high court was done without awaiting the state government’s views bypassing Constitutional norms and set procedures.
Mann also wrote separate letters to President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Punjab Governor Kataria in this regard.
The Mann government on Sunday convened an emergency meeting of the cabinet against the Centre’s decision.
An official statement after the meeting of the state cabinet said it had resolved that the appointment and administration of oath should be put on hold until Punjab’s views are obtained and duly considered.
The Cabinet strongly condemned “another instance” of the central government “bypassing” the state’s constitutional rights and established procedure, the statement said.
Additional Solicitor General of India, Satya Pal Jain, said the controversy raised by the Punjab government over the appointment is “most unfortunate and totally uncalled for”, and asserted that the state had sufficient time to send its views. (Agencies)
