Chandigarh: Appointments of nominated councillors challenged in HC

Acting on the plea from one Jaspal Singh, the high court bench of justice Lisa Gill and justice Ritu Tagore has sought Chandigarh’s response by August 3, the detailed order is still awaited

The appointments of nine nominated councillors made by the Chandigarh administration has been challenged in the Punjab and Haryana high court.

The nominations were made on October 18, 2022, by the Chandigarh administration. The opposition parties had criticised the list claiming that all those appointed had “strong BJP links.” (HT File photo)

Acting on the plea from one Jaspal Singh, the high court bench of justice Lisa Gill and justice Ritu Tagore has sought UT’s response by August 3. The detailed order is still awaited.

The plea seeks quashing of these appointments and alleges that no procedure was adopted by the respondent, while nominating them. “..even the character verification or police verification have not been done, thus action of the respondent is liable to be quashed,” it argues. It also says no reservation policy was adopted while nominating the names of the councillors, which was also in violation of provisions of the Constitution.

The nominations were made on October 18, 2022, by the UT administration. The opposition parties had criticised the list claiming that all those appointed had “strong BJP links.”

Those appointed are Satinder Singh Sidhu, Dr Naresh Panchal, Anil Masih, Dharminder Saini, Amit Jindal, Geeta Chauhan, Dr Ramneek Singh Bedi, Umesh Ghai and Mohinder Kaur.