The Punjab government has approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking an urgent hearing after the Union Ministry of External Affairs denied political clearance for Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s official trip to France.
Mann is scheduled to head an official delegation between October 15 and 21 to attend SIAL Paris 2026, a global food industry fair running from October 17 to 21. In a 56-page petition filed against the Union of India, the state administration requested the court to set aside the rejection order, describing the central government’s decision to withhold permission as unreasoned and arbitrary.
Legal Challenge and Federal Grounds
According to the petition, the portal simply displayed the status of the online clearance request as denied, without citing any justification or granting the state an opportunity to be heard. The Punjab government submitted that the order is non-speaking, lacks legal authority, and constitutes an unjustifiable intervention in administrative areas reserved for state executive authority under Article 162 along with entries 14, 24, 26, 27, and 32 of List II in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution. The plea further argued that the central government’s action undermines constitutional federalism.
Trade Objectives and Travel Arrangements
The primary objective of the foreign mission was to support trade promotion through the Punjab State Cooperative Supply and Marketing Federation Limited, the state’s apex cooperative body commonly known as MARKFED. The cooperative secured an exhibition space at the event inside the APEDA India Pavilion, which is set up by the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority.
The petition noted that MARKFED had undertaken to fund all expenditures connected with the visit. The state pointed out that administrative sanctions and cadre clearances were completed, and consultations with the Indian diplomatic mission in France had already been carried out before the formal denial.
Timeline of Approvals
Initial communications seeking clearance were sent by Punjab’s Department of Cooperation to the Ministry of External Affairs on September 3 and September 8, followed by a formal online submission on September 9. Given that the delegation’s departure date is set for October 15, the state requested immediate judicial intervention to resolve the matter.
