Bhagwant Mann Paris Visit: Here's Why HC Overruled Centre's Denial To Punjab CM
Bhagwant Mann Paris visit: The Punjab and Haryana High Court overruled Centre’s Denial to CM Mann’s visit to Paris. What Punjab and the Centre argued in the High Court, point by point, and how the court dealt with the MEA’s reasons.
North Desk Correspondent
Chandigarh, October 17
The MEA’s affidavit cited security, protocol and the CM’s role. Punjab pointed to an invitation under the French President’s patronage. Here is each side’s case, point by point, and what the court recorded on each.
Why does the Ministry of External Affairs need to examine a Chief Minister’s role in a foreign trip, when it declined clearance on “political angle” alone? Justice Tribhuvan Dahiya put that question in his order of October 16 while allowing the Punjab’s plea to clear CM Bhagwant Mann’s tour to France which had been declined by the Centre.
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The order notes it had not been explained why the Ministry must look at the Chief Minister’s functional role at all.
The question came up because the Centre’s affidavit, filed the same day, gave the court the reasons that were absent from the original refusal. The Centre’s case is that the Chief Minister has no functional role at the event and this was among the reasons his request to go to France had been rejected. Among other reasons were that security and protocol could not be arranged, and that there was no proper bilateral invitation. Punjab’s case is that none of these reasons appears in the refusal and that its record answers each of them.
Here is how the record reads, point by point.
Bhagwant Mann Paris Visit: THE BACKGROUND
Bhagwant Mann Paris Visit: SIAL Paris, a food trade show held once every two years, runs from October 17 to 21 at Paris Nord Villepinte. According to the court’s order, about 130 countries are expected to exhibit. APEDA, a statutory body under the Union Commerce Ministry, confirmed on September 3 that MARKFED, Punjab’s apex cooperative, would participate under the APEDA India Pavilion. The State planned a delegation of the Chief Minister, the Chief Secretary and the Principal Secretary to the CM, with all expenditure borne by MARKFED. MARKFED’s turnover is put at around Rs 22,000 crore.
Punjab’s Department of Personnel gave cadre clearance on September 2. The Department of Cooperation wrote to the MEA on September 3 and September 8. The online application went in on the e-Political Clearance portal on September 9. The order records that it was declined on October 12, three days before the planned departure, when the portal showed this remark: “Ministry of External Affairs has examined the proposal. Clearance from political angle is declined.”
WHAT PUNJAB SAID
Bhagwant Mann Paris Visit: The order records these submissions for the State, and the petition adds further grounds. The two are kept apart below.
Argued in court, as recorded in the order:
- Reasons. The refusal is arbitrary, no reason was assigned and the State was given no opportunity to explain.
- Timing. The refusal came at the eleventh hour, the State says, and only frustrates the visit. Missing SIAL would hurt the State’s interests.
- Invitation. The State produced a letter dated September 22 from SIAL to the French Embassy in India, asking it to expedite the Chief Minister’s visa. The order records that the invitation was extended under the patronage of the President of the French Republic.
- Earlier clearances and security. Punjab says the Chief Minister’s earlier trips to Finland, the Netherlands, Japan, the Czech Republic, Korea, Australia and Germany were sought through the same procedure and cleared, and that his Z-plus security was taken care of on those trips.
- Motive. The State alleges political vendetta because an opposition party leads the Punjab government. It says the Haryana Chief Minister was recently cleared for visits to several countries, including Singapore. These are the State’s contentions.
Pleaded in the petition, but not recorded as argued in the order:
- No law behind clearance. The State says no Act of Parliament requires it. It rests on Cabinet Secretariat and MEA office memoranda that, the State says, lay down no criteria, no time limit, no duty to record reasons and no appeal.
- Federalism. The State says the visit falls within its executive power under Article 162 and List II of the Seventh Schedule (agriculture, industries, trade and commerce, and co-operative societies), and that the Union’s executive power under Article 73 does not reach it. It cites S.R. Bommai and the 2023 GNCTD ruling.
WHAT THE CENTRE SAID
Bhagwant Mann Paris Visit: These points are the order’s account of the affidavit of Aayush Gupta, Under Secretary (Europe West), MEA, dated October 16. Additional Solicitor General Satya Pal Jain and Senior Advocate Dheeraj Jain appeared for the Centre.
- Whose call it is. Granting or denying political clearance is the MEA’s function, because conducting foreign relations is the Ministry’s responsibility. Prior clearance is mandatory, the Centre says, to ensure the safety, security, dignity and standing of the dignitary.
- The factors. The decision depends on bilateral relations, the prevailing political situation, the diplomatic climate and any anti-India activities in or emanating from the country concerned.
- Reasons not on the portal. As a matter of practice the reason for denial is not conveyed on the portal. Permission is often refused for “sensitivity” that cannot be disclosed because it bears on bilateral relations.
- Scale of the event. The Chief Minister’s presence is not commensurate with the nature and scale of the event, the Centre says.
- Security. The Chief Minister faces serious threats to life from terrorist outfits and had requested comprehensive security cover in Paris. Without a proper bilateral invitation from the foreign government, such security arrangements and protocol are unavailable, the Centre says, and a crowded commercial event without proper arrangements could expose him to grave danger.
- Functional role. There is no functional role for the Chief Minister during the proposed visit.
- Motive. The vendetta allegation is baseless. The Centre says the Chief Minister has been cleared many times, including for Finland, the Netherlands and Japan. This time, it says, the refusal was “prudent,” made to prevent risk to his safety and injury to his dignity.
HOW THE COURT DEALT WITH EACH
Bhagwant Mann Paris Visit: Allowing the petition, the court recorded these findings.
On reasons: it was not explained what the “political angle” is or whether clearance means examining an application from a political angle. “No reasons are forthcoming,” the order says.
On the invitation: the court did not accept the Centre’s ground of no proper foreign-government invitation, in view of the SIAL letter of September 22. The letter records the organiser’s pleasure at counting the Chief Minister among its visitors and its view that the show was an opportunity to form business contacts and negotiate contracts.
On functional role: the court did not accept it, since the Chief Minister heads the delegation, which the order says underscores a functional role. It also said it was not explained why the Ministry needs to examine the role at all, and called the requirement superfluous because clearance was refused on “political angle” alone.
On the affidavit: relying on the Constitution Bench ruling in Mohinder Singh Gill, the court said an order’s validity is judged by the reasons in it, which cannot be supplemented by an affidavit. The reasons in the affidavit therefore cannot justify the order, the court held, because they do not appear in it.
Bhagwant Mann Paris Visit: The order sets aside the refusal and directs the respondents to approve the delegation’s visit urgently as per the programme conveyed by the State, facilitate its departure, and extend due protocols as per the prescribed procedure. It records no finding on the federalism, no-statute or Article 131 grounds.
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