In an unprecedented confrontation between the executive and the judiciary, the Punjab Cabinet on Jattvibeday unanimously passed a resolution opposing the appointment of Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra, the acting Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, as the Chief Justice.The move came hours after the Centre issued a late-night notification on Saturday appointing Justice Mishra to the post. At a hurriedly convened Cabinet meeting, the state government appealed to President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Governor Gulab Chand Kataria to put the appointment and the scheduled oath-taking ceremony on hold until “mandatory approval” from the state was taken.Justice Mishra is scheduled to be sworn in by Governor Kataria on Monday morning. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who is in Delhi, is unlikely to attend the ceremony.Most ministers joined the emergency meeting through video-conferencing. During the meeting, the Cabinet examined the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) governing the appointment and transfer of high court judges and chief justices.According to the Cabinet, Paragraph 6 of the MoP stipulates that after receiving the recommendation of the Chief Justice of India, the Union Law Minister would obtain the views of the state government concerned before forwarding the proposal to the Prime Minister for advice to the President.“However, in complete disregard of the MoP and established constitutional norms, the Union Government hurriedly notified the appointment of the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court without awaiting the response of the state government,” a Cabinet statement said.After the meeting, Mann accused the Centre of systematically undermining Punjab’s constitutional rights. “The Centre is continuously attacking the rights of Punjab. The appointment of the new Chief Justice has been made without taking consent or following the prescribed procedure,” he said.The Chief Minister linked the issue to what he described as a broader pattern of federal overreach, alleging that the Centre had withheld Rs 9,000 crore in Rural Development Fund (RDF) dues, not released the announced Rs 1,600 crore flood-relief package and amended the rules governing the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) to dilute Punjab’s rights over river waters. “This will not be tolerated. Our demand is that this appointment be stopped immediately and the Chief Justice be appointed in accordance with the constitutional process,” Mann said.Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema argued that the appointment bypassed Paragraph 6 of the MoP. He said the Governor had written to the Chief Minister regarding the Supreme Court Collegium’s recommendation, but the Centre notified the appointment late on Saturday without waiting for Punjab’s response.“Ignoring the elected state government is an insult not only to the Chief Minister but also to the three crore people of Punjab,” Cheema said. He also questioned why the appointment of Justice GS Sandhawalia, then the senior-most judge, had remained pending for months while Justice Mishra’s elevation was processed swiftly.The political standoff comes at a time when a Bench headed by Justice Mishra recently directed the cash-strapped Punjab Government to release pending dearness allowance to its employees, a decision estimated to impose a financial burden of about Rs 14,100 crore on the state exchequer.Justice Mishra’s Bench is also set to hear several high-profile matters, including cases relating to the alleged cash-for-transfer and land-fraud scandals highlighted by the Enforcement Directorate. A PIL linked to a high-profile rape case, in which allegations of attempts to influence the investigation have been made, is also listed before the Chief Justice’s Bench.AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal had earlier expressed reservations over the Supreme Court Collegium’s recommendation, contending that the principle of judicial seniority had been overlooked.