"People emulate these things.... No doubt those in public life should excercise restraint, but how far can we go? We can't start moral policing of politicians," a bench of Justices S S Saron and Darshan Singh observed.
The court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Chandigarh-based advocate H C Arora against Sidhu's continuation with 'the Kapil Sharma show' after becoming a minister in the Amarinder Singh Government.
Earlier, the state Advocate General, Atul Nanda, argued that in the absence of provisions, the court of law cannot interfere.
He contended that there is no convention, "but even if it is assumed that it existed, the court can't issue a direction for enforcement of convention in the absence of any law".
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"Lakhs of people follow the example set by ministers, and public conduct of ministers is being watched.
"In such a situation, can a minister resort to a conduct which is not in consonance with the dignity and status of a Cabinet Minister?" the bench asked the advocate general.
Nanda maintained that Sidhu has not violated the code of conduct for ministers.
On the other hand, the petitioner argued that the Cabinet Minister is not only participating in the comedy show, but is also appearing in an advertisement, and promoting a "magic machine" for learning spoken English.
Arora quoted a 2004 judgement of the Supreme Court in Jayalalitha's case, wherein referring to enforceability of Code of Conduct, the apex court had observed that "morally speaking, can there be one law for small officials of the government and another law for the chief minister...?"
The petitioner argued saying, "a stage has come, when the high court should come forward to interfere in the matter of code of conduct, as a Cabinet Minister promoting 'magic English speaking machines' is something unheard of in the past."
The advocate general, however, interjected and told the HC that this advertisement was shot by Sidhu several years ago.
The advocate general argued that the code of conduct for ministers is not enforceable through courts.
At this stage, the bench repeatedly asked him, "Assuming that the code of conduct is not enforceable through courts, then the question would arise - whether it is worth the paper on which it is written?"
"We may feel that Sidhu while working as a minister and a television actor may be ethically wrong, but this is no violation of law. We can only stop him from working if he is violating a law and not on the basis of moral or conduct grounds.
The next hearing will be on August 2.
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