Chandigarh, Oct. 16 -- The Punjab government on Thursday moved the high court challenging Centre's move to deny permission to a delegation led by chief minister Bhagwant Mann for an official visit to France.

The denial of approval to the visit, which is meant to promote trade, is "arbitrary," the petition filed by secretary, department of cooperation, Punjab, Ritu Aggarwal, said.

In January too, the MEA had refused political clearance to Mann and Punjab industries minister Sanjeev Arora for a proposed visit to the United Kingdom and Israel in February to invite business leaders to invest in state.

The current visit was in connection with participation of the Punjab State Cooperative Supply and Marketing Federation Ltd. (MARKFED), the a...