Punjab guv writes to CM Mann, flags concern over cabinet minister's conviction

Chandigarh, Jan 5 (PTI) Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Friday wrote to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann asking him why state minister Aman Arora – convicted recently in a family dispute case – had not been divested of his membership despite the Supreme Court's directions.

The governor, who received a representation in connection with the matter, has sought a full report from the chief minister on the entire issue.

Purohit in his letter cited the apex court judgement, according to which, a lawmaker stands divested of membership if convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for a term not less than two years by a trial court.

Punjab Minister Aman Arora and eight others were sentenced to two-year imprisonment by a court in Sangrur district on December 21 in a 15-year-old case in which a relative of Arora had accused him of attacking him in his house.

Arora holds the new and renewable energy, printing and stationery, employment generation, and training and governance reforms portfolios in the Bhagwant Mann cabinet.

"This is a serious matter involving non-compliance of the directions given by the Supreme Court of India and can I have a detailed report on the entire issue," the governor wrote to Mann.

"Please find enclosed representation received regarding the conviction of the minister Aman Arora, Cabinet Minister, in a criminal case," he added.

The representation which the governor received has not been shared with the media.

"From the representation, I understand that on December 21, 2023, a court of law convicted Mr Aman Arora for two years and the conviction has not yet been stayed by the competent higher court," Purohit wrote.

"As per the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in the case of Lilly Thomas versus Union of India, the members of Legislative Assembly (MLA) stand divested of their membership if convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for a term not less than two years by a trial court," he added.

Purohit also said the representation also raised the question of national flag hoisting by Arora on January 26.

The representation alleged that the act of entrusting the legislator with the symbolic representation of the nation on a day as momentous as Republic Day not only undermines the sanctity of the legal system but also sends an unsettling message to the citizenry regarding the government's commitment to ethical governance, he said.

The court of Gurbhinder Singh Johal, Sub-divisional Judicial Magistrate, Sunam, had last month convicted Arora and eight others in a 2008 case filed on the complaint of the minister's brother-in-law Rajinder Deepa.

The nine were booked in the matter under several sections of IPC, including 452 (house-trespass) and 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt).

The court sentenced them to two-year imprisonment under section 452 and one-year imprisonment under section 323 of the IPC. Both sentences will run concurrently.

A counsel representing Deepa had last month said the convicts, after the court verdict, had moved an application before the court that they wanted to file an appeal in a higher court.

They have a 30-day time period to file an appeal, he had said. PTI