Navjot Singh Sidhu in comedy show: HC won’t moral politicians

With Punjab cabinet minister Navjot Singh Siddhu continuing to face criticism over his appearance on a comedy show, the Punjab and Haryana High Court observed that it cannot issue any directions to the minister in the absence of any statutory provisions to stop him from participating in the show.

The observation was made by a division bench of justices SS Saron and Darshan Singh, while hearing a PIL filed by advocate HC Arora, seeking directions to the government to restrain Siddhu from working on The Kapil Sharma Show.

While highlighting that those in public life should exercise some self-restraint, the court stated, “No doubt those in public life should observe restraint, but how far can we go? We cannot begin moral policing of politicians.”

The state advocate-general Atul Nanda argued that the Code of Conduct for ministers is not enforceable through courts, to which the bench observed, “Assuming that Code of Conduct is not enforceable through courts, the question that arises is whether it is worth the paper on which it is written?”

Emphasising that the court cannot interfere, in absence of provisions, the AG argued,“Even if it is assumed that there are conventions, it is clear that conventions cannot be enforced.”