Raipur: The Chhattisgarh High Court on Wednesday issued a notice to the state government seeking its reply over the appointment of 11 MLAs as Parliamentary Secretaries.
Parliamentary Secretaries have the rank and status of government Ministers. They assist the ministers to perform their duties.
“Appointment of parliamentary secretaries was carried out illegally in Chhattisgarh. The state government is giving every facility to these parliamentary secretaries much like the ministers. These parliamentary secretaries have been attached with ministers, allocated bungalows, red beacon vehicles and office bearers,” said petitioner Rakesh Choubey.
Advocate General JK Gilda said that the division bench of Chief Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Sanjay Agrawal issued notices to all the 11 Parliamentary Secretaries, Chief Secretary of Chhattisgarh and the state General Administration Department over a PIL challenging the appointments.
The High Court has sought their replies by the third week of February next year.
Various High Court judgments in the past have deemed the appointment of Parliamentary Secretaries unconstitutional and have ruled against such appointments. The Delhi High Court judgement was the most recent one which quashed the appointment of around 21 AAP MLAs as Parliamentary Secretaries.
Various High Court judgments in the past have deemed the appointment of Parliamentary Secretaries unconstitutional and have ruled against such appointments.
The Constitution caps the number of members in the union and state cabinet. Article 164(1A) specifies that the number of ministers including the Chief Minister has to be within 15% of the total number of members of the Assembly. Over the last few years, courts across the country have struck down the appointment of Parliamentary Secretaries for violating the Constitution.
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