Punjab Government Files High Court Petition After Centre Denies Clearance for CM Bhagwant Mann's France Visit

The Punjab government has filed a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court after the Union Ministry of External Affairs denied political clearance for Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's official trip to France for SIAL Paris 2026. The state argues the denial was arbitrary, non-speaking, and violated constitutional provisions governing state executive authority. MARKFED, Punjab's apex cooperative body, had secured exhibition space at the event and agreed to fund the visit. Clearance requests were submitted in early September, and with departure scheduled for October 15, the state sought urgent judicial intervention.

The Punjab government has approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court, seeking an expedited hearing after the Union Ministry of External Affairs declined to grant political clearance for Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's planned trip to France. A delegation led by Mann is scheduled to travel between 17 and 21 October, with the trip commencing two days earlier on 15 October, to attend SIAL Paris 2026, an international food industry exhibition.

Through a 56-page petition filed before the court and naming the Union of India as respondent, the state administration sought to set aside the refusal order, contending that the central government had withheld permission without providing any reasoning or legal basis for its decision. The filing states that the online clearance portal returned only a denial status on the request, with no explanation attached and no avenue made available to the state to contest the outcome.

In its submissions, Punjab's state administration challenged the directive on three grounds — that it provided no reasoning, rested on no valid legal basis, and encroached upon domains of executive governance that Article 162, read alongside entries 14, 24, 26, 27, and 32 of List II in the Seventh Schedule, reserves for state-level authority. The petition further contended that the central government's action was at odds with the constitutional framework governing the division of powers between national and state authorities.

Trade promotion through MARKFED — the Punjab State Cooperative Supply and Marketing Federation Limited, which functions as the apex cooperative body for the state — formed the central purpose of the proposed foreign mission. A dedicated exhibition space within the APEDA India Pavilion — a display structure organised under the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority, which operates under the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry — had been allocated to the cooperative at the event.

According to the petition, MARKFED had committed to bearing all costs arising from the visit. The state noted that internal departmental clearances and personnel vetting had been completed prior to the formal denial being issued, and that the diplomatic mission in France had already been engaged through official channels.

Three rounds of correspondence from Punjab's Department of Cooperation reached the Ministry of External Affairs — two preliminary clearance requests dispatched on 3 and 8 September, with a formal digital submission completing the process the following day. With the delegation's scheduled departure on 15 October as a backdrop, the state moved to place the matter before the court for prompt resolution.