On Monday, the Punjab and Haryana High Court issued notices to the Central and Haryana governments regarding a petition challenging the appointment of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Nayab Singh Saini as the Chief Minister of Haryana.
A division bench comprising acting Chief Justice Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia and Justice Lapita Banerji has requested responses from the State and Union governments regarding a petition filed by lawyer Jagmohan Singh Bhatti. Bhatti’s petition challenges the appointment of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Nayab Singh Saini as the Chief Minister of Haryana, along with the appointment of five other recently sworn-in ministers. The Court has scheduled the matter for a hearing on April 30.
Former Chief Minister ML Khattar resigned from his post along with his Cabinet, clearing the path for Nayab Singh Saini’s appointment as the new head of government in Haryana
Shortly after, Bhatti filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) claiming that Singh was not a member of the legislature and had not resigned as a Member of Parliament (MP).
In the petition, Singh argued that the State legislature already had the maximum number of 90 MLAs, making Saini’s appointment impossible. However, on Monday, the Court was informed that a lawmaker had resigned to create a vacancy for Saini in the legislature.
