CHANDIGARH: Amidst the tussle between Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and Punjab Congress President Navjot Singh Sidhu over the appointment of Advocate General of Punjab Amar Preet Singh Deol and Punjab DGP Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota, just after over a month of his appointment as AG, Deol today resigned.
Sources said that Deol today resigned from the post of Advocate General of Punjab and handed over his resignation to Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi.
On September 27, Deol was appointed after the post fell vacant following Atul Nanda’s resignation soon after Capt Amarinder Singh stepped down as chief minister.
But his resignation is yet to be accepted by the government.
From the beginning there has been controversy over his appointment as he had remained the counsel of former Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini and suspended IGP Paramraj Singh Umaranangal, both accused in the Behbal Kalan police firing case.
It had led to a legal debate on the issue of conflict of interest primarily on the grounds that Deol was counsel of Saini and Umaranangal and thus would not be able to appear nor advise the state in their cases related to Behbal Kalan police firing and sacrilege.
Domestic power tariff slashed
Punjab cabinet announced decided to slash power tariff in the state by Rs 3 per unit for domestic consumers, which will put a burden of Rs 3,316 crore per year on the state exchequer.
Intended as a Diwali gift, the decision comes ahead of next year’s assembly polls.
After the state cabinet meeting today, Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi said, “The cabinet decided to reduce the power tariff to domestic sector consumers having connected load upto 7 KW by Rs 3 per unit.’’
Channi claimed that this decision follows a survey conducted by his government, where it was found people wanted better quality and cheaper electricity. He said that the first 100 units of power will be charged at Rs 1.19 per unit.
Consumption between 100 and 300 units will be billed at Rs 4 per unit. Over 300 units, it has been fixed at Rs 5.76 per unit.
“The power tariff in Punjab will be the cheapest in the country,’ he said.