BJP demands Aman Arora's immediate dismissal from Punjab cabinet

Chandigarh, Jan 9 (PTI) BJP general secretary Tarun Chugh on Tuesday demanded immediate dismissal of Punjab minister Aman Arora from the cabinet after a Sangrur court recently convicted him along with some others in a family dispute case.
     Chugh alleged the way Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has been "protecting" Arora even after he has been convicted by a court is not only showing disrespect to the court "but also demonstrates how blatantly the AAP government has been defying the constitutional bodies".
     He expressed surprise that the cabinet minister has not resigned on his own on moral grounds.
     Arora holds the new and renewable energy, printing and stationery, employment generation and training and governance reforms portfolios in the Mann cabinet.
     "What kind of example Bhagwant Mann is setting for the state by shielding a convicted cabinet colleague," the BJP leader said in a statement issued here.
     Chugh expressed serious concern at the failure of Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government to respond to Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit's query on the matter and said the chief minister must stop defying his calls.
     The BJP leader also strongly condemned the AAP government for allegedly paralyzing governance in Punjab with "unconstitutional precedents".
     The governor, who had received a representation in connection with the matter recently, had sought a full report from the chief minister on the entire issue.
     Purohit in his letter to the chief minister last week cited the Supreme 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.
     "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 Aman Arora, the cabinet minister, in a criminal case," he added.
     Arora and eight others were sentenced to two-year imprisonment by a court in Sangrur district on December 21 last year in a 15-year-old case in which his relative had accused him of attacking him in his house.
     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 the Indian Penal Code (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.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)