India, Sept. 6 -- Reacting strongly to the elevation of Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra as the chief justice of the Punjab and Haryana high court, the Punjab government on Sunday accused the BJP-led Centre of muzzling the state's federal and constitutional rights. The state government alleged that the Centre bypassed mandatory consultation procedures and ignored the elected state administration during the appointment process.

In response to the development, chief minister Bhagwant Mann convened an emergency cabinet meeting at 4pm on Sunday to deliberate on the matter and decide on the state's legal and constitutional strategy. The meeting was held via video conferencing, with all ministers reportedly instructed to attend. Since most ministe...