Banwarilal Purohit, the governor of Punjab, has escalated the ongoing dispute with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann by charging him with making offensive remarks about him during the most recent assembly session in June. He also threatened to file a criminal complaint for assaulting his image against the latter if he continued to make similar statements outside of the House in future.
The governor stated, “You read the defamatory speech delivered by Mann in the assembly. He used derogatory language against me and claimed that I keep writing letters and called me idle. This is not done.”
He further warned, “The chief minister has certain legal protections in the House. Let him utter such remarks against me outside. The day he does, I will tell my office to file a criminal complaint against him and book him under Section 124 of the Indian Penal Code (assaulting the reputation of a President or governor with intent to compel or restrain the exercise of any lawful power).”
He asserted, “Even an attempt to put pressure or overawe the governor makes him liable for criminal action. Nobody can defame the governor.” He voiced that the Aam Aadmi Party leader must be mindful of his utterances. He pointed out that the chief minister must be careful with his language and cannot keep calling him names without any reason and added, “A governor has a lot of power.”
He accused the state government of breaking the Constitution’s Section 167, which mandates that the chief minister must provide any administrative information demanded by the governor. “Even the Supreme Court in March had counselled them to respect this Constitutional provision.”
He proclaimed that despite writing the chief minister 10 to 15 letters, he never received a response or one that was inadequate. “They are against the Constitution and get angry the moment I ask for any information.”
He refuted Bhagwant Mann’s claim that he is only accountable to three crore Punjabis and not Raj Bhavan and noted that all of his deeds are legal under the Constitution. “But he has to run the state according to the Constitution, not on his whims. You’re not a king.”
“When all means are exhausted, I will do whatever needs to be done. I am now moving in that direction. I will send a detailed report to the President to do what she deems fit,” he responded when questioned about his options if the Punjab government doesn’t share any information with him.
