An emergency meeting of the Punjab Cabinet has been convened today in the wake of the notification confirming the appointment of Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra as Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Justice Mishra had been serving as the Acting Chief Justice of the High Court for the past few months.The meeting will be held through video conferencing, with all ministers reportedly instructed to attend. Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said he would raise the issue at the meeting this evening.“All procedures for the appointment of the Chief Justice, as detailed in various letters, were ignored while notifying his appointment. The BJP is ignoring the Constitution to push its political agenda in Punjab,” Cheema said.The Cabinet is expected to discuss the issue and consider whether a session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha should be convened to debate the matter.It may be mentioned that a Justice Mishra-led Bench had, last month, delivered the judgment in the dearness allowance (DA) case, directing the Punjab Government to release the pending DA to its employees. The decision has put an estimated burden of Rs 14,100 crore on the cash-strapped state and triggered unprecedented protests by government employees.The Punjab Government had not given its assent to Justice Mishra’s appointment as the regular Chief Justice. Despite this, his appointment was notified by the Central Government on the recommendation of the Supreme Court Collegium.