Assembly Membership of MLAs appointed as Chief Parliamentary Secretaries should be terminated: Himachal BJP

Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh BJP on Wednesday demanded that the assembly membership of the six MLAs serving as Chief Parliamentary Secretaries (CPS) be cancelled after the high court here quashed the 2006 law under which the appointments were made.

However, state minister Rajesh Dharmani asserted that the assembly membership of the six legislators is "safe".

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that the judgment would be studied and the cabinet would decide the next step after discussions.

In a statement issued here, Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur said that the decision to appoint CPS was taken by Chief Minister Sukhu in an "unconstitutional and dictatorial manner and the BJP demands that the membership of all the legislators appointed as CPS be cancelled".

A bench of the Himachal Pradesh High Court on Wednesday quashed the appointment of the six CPS and directed that all their facilities and privileges be withdrawn with immediate effect.

The court declared the Himachal Pradesh Parliamentary Secretaries (Appointment, salaries, allowance, powers, privileges and amenities) Act, 2006 as void.

Sukhu had appointed six CPS -- Sanjay Awasthi from Arki Assembly, Sunder Singh from Kullu, Ram Kumar from Doon, Mohan Lal Barakta from Rohru, Ashish Butail from Palampur and Kishori Lal from Baijnath on January 8, 2023, ahead of a cabinet expansion.

"These appointments had put an additional burden on the state exchequer and the decision of the state government also makes it clear that the Congress party government prefers to follow its own provisions rather than the Constitution", said Jai Ram Thakur.

The BJP was against the appointment of the CPS from day one. It had raised its voice against the decision and had knocked on the doors of the court in this regard, he said.

"When we were in the government in 2017, this issue also came to our mind whether CPS should be appointed or not. But considering it unconstitutional, we did not make any such appointment", he said.

Welcoming the decision, the BJP state president Rajiv Bindal alleged that the Congress misused public money by appointing the six Chief Parliamentary Secretaries and giving them powers equal to ministers which was "illegal and against the Constitution".

Asked about the verdict, Sukhu told reporters, "I have not read the judgment yet. The judgment would be studied and discussions would be held with officials and the cabinet to decide further steps".

Technical Education Minister Rajesh Dharmani told media persons here that the CPS were appointed under the Act passed by the state assembly and they do not come under the preview of office of profit.

"It is important to say that the membership of six CPS is safe so that no wrong message is spread," he asserted.

Asked if the state government would approach the Supreme Court against the decision, he said that it is for the government to decide "but in my personal opinion it would not be a good step".

Kishori Lal, who was appointed as a CPS, said, "We respect the decision of the High Court and abide by it." "We were not enjoying much facilities. There was a vehicle which had already been surrendered," he added.