FROM GOVERNANCE TO CONTROL: A FORENSIC STYLISTIC CRITIQUE OF LEGAL LANGUAGE IN THE PEEDA ACT (2006)

Abstract

This research scrutinizes the Punjab Employees Efficiency, Discipline, and Accountability Act (PEEDA Act, 2006) with a critical eye, focusing specifically on its linguistic and structural aspects that influence the interpretation and application of the Act. It utilizes the methods of forensic stylistic analysis and the theoretical framework provided by Coulthard and Johnson for robust validation of the prior analysis. This study examines the workings and impact of the Act, particularly from the perspective of public sector employees. This research focuses on uncovering the power structures the Act supports, the obscured accountabilities it conceals, and how it upholds (or fails to uphold) the balance of procedural fairness that public sector employees are supposed to enjoy. The Act has some significant inconsistencies in the way it uses models, which result in ambiguity that leads to some of the interpretative discrepancies and 'selective enforcement'