Jalandhar/Chandigarh: Reacting strongly to the elevation of Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra as the chief justice of the Punjab and Haryana high court, the Punjab government on Sunday accused the BJP-led Centre of muzzling the state’s federal and constitutional rights. The state government alleged that the Centre bypassed mandatory consultation procedures and ignored the elected state administration during the appointment process.

In response to the development, chief minister Bhagwant Mann convened an emergency cabinet meeting at 4pm on Sunday to deliberate on the matter and decide on the state’s legal and constitutional strategy. The meeting was held via video conferencing, with all ministers reportedly instructed to attend. Since most ministers were outside Chandigarh, they were directed to join the virtual proceedings from the offices of the deputy commissioners in their respective districts.

The political dispute follows the Centre’s notification on Saturday confirming the appointment of Justice Mishra, who had been serving as the high court’s acting chief justice, on the recommendation of the Supreme Court Collegium.

Addressing a press conference in Jalandhar on Sunday alongside AAP leader Taranpreet Singh Sunny, Punjab finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema, a lawyer by profession, called the move a deliberate attempt to breach constitutional norms. “It is a sensitive and important issue concerning Punjab and its rights,” Cheema said. “The Centre has not provided adequate time to place our views on the recommendations of the Supreme Court’s Collegium. According to Paragraph 6 of the memorandum of procedure (MoP) for the appointment of chief justices and judges of high courts, taking the viewpoint and submissions of the chief minister of the concerned state and the elected state government is a mandatory standard procedure before notifying any top judicial appointment.”

Cheema said that Mann had received formal communications from Punjab governor Gulab Chand Kataria on August 12 and Union minister for law and justice Arjun Ram Meghwal seeking his mandatory opinion on the Collegium’s recommendation. “However, surprisingly, the central government issued the notification related to Justice Mishra’s appointment without waiting for CM Mann’s response,” Cheema said. “The chief minister represents the mandate of three crore Punjabis. Ignoring the elected state government is an insult not only to the chief minister but also to the people of Punjab.”

The Supreme Court Collegium—headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and comprising Justices Vikram Nath and BV Nagarathna—had recommended Justice Mishra’s elevation on August 6, along with full-time appointments for the Bombay, Calcutta, and Patna High Courts.

Justice Mishra, whose parent bench is the Allahabad High Court, has served as Acting Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana high court since June 2, following the elevation of his predecessor, Justice Sheel Nagu, to the Supreme Court.

On August 9, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal had also raised objections, alleging that the Collegium had overlooked judicial seniority in recommending Justice Mishra.

Cheema questioned why standard protocols were bypassed in Punjab’s case while being delayed elsewhere. He cited the earlier recommendation of Justice GS Sandhawalia, then the senior-most judge of the Punjab and Haryana high court. The Collegium had recommended Justice Sandhawalia as Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh high court in July 2024, but the Centre kept the file pending for over two months before appointing him to the Himachal Pradesh high court in September 2024.

“I question the central government: Why was Justice Sandhawalia’s appointment delayed despite the Collegium’s recommendation, while the appointment of Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra was processed without consulting the Punjab government?” Cheema said.

The controversy also unfolds against the backdrop of recent judicial friction. On August 3, a high court bench led by Justice Mishra directed the cash-strapped Punjab government to release pending dearness allowance (DA) and dearness relief dues to its employees and pensioners within a fortnight.The order further barred the state government from engaging in unproductive expenditures, including large-scale advertising campaigns, until the dues were cleared. The verdict imposes an estimated financial burden of ₹14,100 crore on the state treasury and triggered wide-scale protests by government employees.

The Punjab government has since challenged the high court order in the Supreme Court.

Under the memorandum of procedure (MoP) governing high court judicial appointments, the Union law ministry must obtain the views of the concerned state government after the Supreme Court collegium makes its recommendation. These views form an integral part of the submission forwarded to the Prime Minister, who then advises the President on the appointment.

The MoP sets out a specific six-week window for a state government to convey its comments. If no response is received within six weeks, the MoP contains a deemed-consent provision allowing the Union law ministry to presume that the governor and chief minister have no additional input, enabling the Centre to proceed.

Cheema asserted that the Centre ignored this timeline, moving to notify the decision before Punjab could utilise its designated consultative window.

“The Constitution establishes a federal structure in which both the Centre and states have clearly defined powers,” Cheema said. “The Centre cannot repeatedly interfere in the rights of the states. The Punjab government will strongly raise its voice against any attempt to undermine its constitutional rights and the federal structure.”

Navrajdeep Singh is a Principal Correspondent. Having an association with this publication for past 14 years, he covers Doaba region including Jalandhar, Kapurthala, SBS Nagar and Hoshiarpur districts. He covers politics, NRIs, agriculture, crime, local bodies, health and education in the these districts of Punjab.Read More