MHA code prohibits ministers from carrying out business

CODE BARS MINISTERS FROM CARRYING OUT ANY BUSINESS; BUT IN SIDHU’S CASE, THE NATURE OF AGREEMENT ALSO MATTERS

CHANDIGARH: Punjab local bodies and tourism minister Navjot Singh Sidhu wants to continue entertaining his fans on the hugely popular television programme “The Kapil Sharma Show”. His decision has created a controversy with questions of “conflict of interest” being raised about all and sundry.

His boss, chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, has quickly decided to take legal opinion from the state’s advocate general on whether his allrounder cabinet colleague can continue to be on the TV show, saying he does not know what the Constitution or the law says on the matter.

However, a code of conduct for ministers already exists. While the code prohibits ministers from carrying on any business, its applicability in the former cricketer-turned-politician’s case will depend on the nature of his deal with the channel or the show producer, details of which are not in public domain. The observance of the code, issued by the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA), is to be ensured by Prime Minister in case of Union ministers and CMs, and the CM for state ministers.