He should not continue, but can we restrain him, asks high court

Punjab and Haryana high court on Friday agreed that cricketer-turnedpolitician and Punjab local bodies minister Navjot Singh Sidhu should not continue with the “The Kapil Sharma Show”, but asked whether there are any provisions in the law to restrain him.

The HC bench of justices SS Saron and Darshan Singh also said even if there was no violation of law, propriety demanded that he leaves the show.

The oral observations were made by the division bench during the hearing of public interest litigation (PIL) filed by lawyer activist HC Arora who sought directions to the Punjab government to restrain Sidhu from acting in the comedy show.

“Everything is not to be looked at legally. It’s not that everything has to be a codified law. Something should be tested on the convention and propriety,” the HC bench observed, asking Punjab’s advocate general Atul Nanda and the petitioner lawyer to assist the court on the issue. Nanda had claimed that there was no violation of law if Sidhu continued with TV show. Nanda, who was present during the hearing even before court’s formal notice to the state, said he would contest the petition but at the same time refused to be drawn on the issue of propriety stating that he would address “legal issues” only.

The high court bench began the hearing asking the petitioner as to why he was after Sidhu. “What law is violated? Why are you after him? Somebody is earning his livelihood,” the bench asked Arora.

It also asked whether the rules that a government servant can’t do private business would apply in the case of Sidhu, him being on a constitutional post.

“Principally, we agree that he should not take part… but can we restrain him... you have to show us that there is violation of law,” the bench observed.