NO BAR ON SIDHU DOING TV SHOW: AG ROHATGI

NEWDELHI: Navjot Singh Sidhu, as a public servant, should refrain from doing television owing to his moral responsibility to disassociate with any commercial activity, even though there is no law which bars such a move, attorney general Mukul Rohatgi said on Wednesday.

He said Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh should advise his cabinet colleague to refrain from doing the popular TV show.

The top law officer, while speaking to a TV channel, said there was no provision in the Constitution to disqualify an MLA or minister if he engages in private business, adding that “there is a moral and ethical responsibility as per which a public servant must disassociate from any commercial activity.”

“The greater the position, the greater the responsibility. So if you indulge in business in the evening, it is like saying switch off and switch on. You say you are a public servant from 10am to 6pm and from 6pm to 8am you are not a public servant. That is not a position which is countenance in democracy,” the AG said.

“If a gentleman continues to do so, while there might not be a legal bar, it is the duty of the CM or the PM (as the case may be) to advise his minister and take remedial action,” Rohatgi said.