Team News Riveting
Chandigarh, August 25
Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Friday lashed out at Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann for the “breaking down of law and order situation in Punjab” and asked him to immediately send him a report apropos the action taken by him on the rampant drug trade.
The latest development is seen as a major escalation of the tussle between Punjab governor and the chief minister. Purohit on Friday warned Mann that he could recommend President’s rule in the state and also initiate criminal proceedings if his letters were not answered.
In a letter to Mann, Purohit said he had received reports from various agencies regarding the rampant availability and abuse of drugs in Punjab. “It is common knowledge that they are available in chemist shops. A new trend is observed that they are being sold in government-controlled liquor vends. The Narcotics Control Bureau and Chandigarh Police recently sealed 66 liquor vends in Ludhiana which were selling drugs,” he said.
He pointed out that a recent report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee said that one in five people in Punjab is exposed or addicted to drugs. “These facts point out to the breaking down of the law and order system in Punjab so much so that now villagers have started protesting on the streets in large numbers and decided to set up their own village defence committees to protect themselves from drugs,” he said.
“Before I take the final decision regarding sending a report to the President under Article 356 about the failure of the constitutional mechanism and take a decision about initiating criminal proceedings under Section 124 of the IPC, I ask you to send me the requisite information sought for under my letters referred to above, as also in the matter of the steps taken by you concerning the problem of drugs in the state, failing which I would have no choice but to take action according to law and the Constitution,” he said.
“Bound as I am by the duty placed on the Governor under the Constitution to see that the administration is carried on a level which would be regarded as good, efficient, impartial and honest, and that the proposals enunciated by the government are not contrary to the law of the land, I, therefore, advise you, warn you and ask you to respond to my letters and give me the information sought,” he said in the latest letter written to Mann.
