Chandigarh: Over two weeks after a face-off with Punjab ministers during a meeting, state Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh tendered an apology for his ‘behaviour.’ Punjab ministers Manpreet Singh Badal and Charanjit Singh Channi described the apology tendered by the top bureaucrat during a cabinet meeting as a “victory of democracy.”
Both ministers had earlier declared not to attend any meeting where the officer was present. Chief Minister Amarinder Singh was also present in the meeting. The apology came two days after Badal and Channi were invited by the chief minister for a lunch at his farmhouse where they were asked how to resolve the issue.
Badal said the officer tendered apology before the entire cabinet for his “body language” and “style of conversation.” Badal told reporters that the chief secretary said he would not give any chance of complaint in future.
Badal said it was the third time that the officer has sought apology from him. He sought apology personally for the first time when the unsavoury incident took place on May 9 and the second time, he came to Badal village after the death of my father to seek forgiveness, said Badal.
If somebody seeks forgiveness for the third time and if he is not forgiven, then it will amount to arrogance, he said. “Today, this chapter is closed,” said Badal, adding that it was not the first time that a dispute arose between the bureaucracy and public representatives and also it was not the last time.
He said it was a “victory of democracy. The importance of public representatives in a democracy is more than that of bureaucracy and it is also important to give priority to their position,” he said. Replying to a question, Badal said he was told that the chief secretary has given in writing that his son was not involved in liquor business in Punjab. Congress MLA Amrinder Singh Raja Warring had alleged the bureaucrat's son has an undeclared business interest in a Punjab distillery.
After the showdown on May 9, the chief secretary was divested of the additional charge of financial commissioner, taxation, and at least 10 Congress legislators led by Warring sought a probe against him, blaming him for revenue loss. Karan Avtar Singh is a 1984-batch IAS officer who was handpicked by Amarinder Singh in 2017 for the chief secretary's post. He is due to retire in August.
