SC puts Prashant Kishor's appointment as advisor to Punjab CM under scanner

A Punjab government's decision to appoint political strategist Prashant Kishor as advisor to the Chief Minister in the rank of a Cabinet Minister has come under scanner of the Supreme Court.

A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Hemant Gupta on May 6 issued notice to the Capt Amarinder Singh government on a joint plea by Labh Singh and another questioning the validity of the order by the state government.

In their plea, Singh, a retired boxing coach and Satinder Singh, an advocate, contended Kishor is an expert in organising elections and is assisting parties in various states. They claimed the appointment of Kishor as principal advisor to the Chief Minister, that too in the rank and status of a Cabinet Minister, at the cost of public money is not permissible.

They, however, added that the state government may have any advisor with any particular expertise for governance purposes.

The court sought a response from the Congress government and has put the matter for consideration after summer vacations.

Capt Amarinder had appointed Kishor as his principal advisor in March this year.

They claimed there was no advertisement or interview conducted for the appointment, which was in clear violation of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution. The decision also smacked of mala fide as Kishor worked as strategist for the Congress party in 2017.

There is a reasonable apprehension that Kishor has been appointed principal advisor just to make election strategies for the 2022 Assembly elections, their petition claimed.

The petitioners challenged validity of the Punjab and Haryana high courts' order of March 5, dismissing their plea

Kishor has recently acted as the political strategist for Trinamool Congress Party in West Bengal, where Mamata Banerjee won the Assembly elections and got appointed as Chief Minister for the third consecutive term.