Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Friday hit out at Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann for the “breakdown of law and order situation in Punjab” and asked him to immediately send him a report concerning the action taken by him on the rampant drug trade.
Governor Purohit—who is also the Administrator of Chandigarh—had, in past letters to CM Mann, sought many queries to which the CM’s office has not yet replied. In his latest letter, Governor Purohit lashed out at CM Mann and stated, “Before I take the final decision regarding sending a report to the President of India under Article 356 about the failure of the constitutional mechanism and take a decision about initiating criminal proceedings under Section 124 of the IPC, I ask you to send me the requisite information sought for under my letters referred to above, as also in the matter of the steps taken by you concerning the problem of drugs in the state, failing which I would have no choice but to take action according to law and the Constitution.”
He has also issued a warning to the Chief Minister, directing him to respond to his letters. Purohit said he had received reports from various agencies regarding the rampant availability and abuse of drugs in Punjab. “It is common knowledge that they are available in chemist shops. A new trend is observed that they are being sold in government-controlled liquor vends. The Narcotics Control Bureau and Chandigarh Police recently sealed 66 liquor vends in Ludhiana which were selling drugs,” he said.
