Chandigarh: The AAP government in Punjab has revoked its recent order to remove Manisha Gulati as the chairperson of the state women’s commission following court directions, officials said on Wednesday. Replying to a petition filed by Gulati against her removal, the Punjab Government informed the Punjab and Haryana High Court that it had revoked the order.
The Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government had recently removed Gulati from the post. In an order issued to this effect on February 1, the Additional Chief Secretary in the Social Security and Women and Child Development Department, Kirpa Shankar Saroj termed extension in the tenure of Gulati as a “bonafide mistake”.
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Gulati was appointed to the post in the year 2018 by the then Amarinder Singh-led Congress government. In 2020, she was granted an extension of three years by the government. Manisha Gulati's lawyer Chetan Mittal said that Gulati was previously appointed for three years under the Punjab State Women's Commission Act.
The Aam Aadmi Party government's decision to remove her from the post did not hold any ground, he said. Mittal further said that the decision to remove Gulati was abrupt and the government had not given any prior notice to Gulati. Mittal said that there have been clear directions by the Supreme Court that the government cannot withdraw an order issued by the outgoing dispensation under the rules.
The Punjab government while withdrawing the order granting Gulati a three-year extension in tenure said that there is no provision for extending the period under the government rules.
