HC dismisses pleas on Parl. Secys’ appointment

The Chhattisgarh High Court on Friday dismissed  petitions challenging appointment and continuance of 11 Parliamentary Secretaries in the State while ruling that they could continue in their posts.

The court, however, held its previous interim order that the parliamentary secretaries cannot enjoy the ‘Office of Profit’ as the ministers do.

A division bench  comprising Chief Justice T B Radhakrishnan and Justice Sharad Kumar Gupta dismissed the petitions filed by former Minister and senior Congress leader Mohammad Akbar and a social worker and RTI activist Rakesh Choubey, who challenged appointment of parliamentary secretaries on the ground that it’s illegal and unconstitutional.

It was a crucial case for the BJP government in the  State as if eligibility of these 11 Parliamentary Secretaries would have been nullified, the government might have lost majority in State Assembly.

Notably, initially the High Court had completed its hearing on the petitions on March 16 and had reserved the order. Later, the High Court had sought a clarification from the petitioner Mohammad Akbar and reserved its orders on February 2.

Meanwhile, both the political parties-- the BJP and Congress are claiming their victory over the decision.

Chief Minister Raman Singh while reacting to the verdict said “the decision was sure to be in the BJP’s favour and the Court had done justice into the matter”.

State BJP Chief Dharamlal Kaushik advised Congress party to do constructive politics.

The Congress party stated that the High Court had ruled that the Parliamentary Secretaries can not enjoy the ‘Office of Profit’ as the ministers do. This ruling was what the party was demanding.

In a statement, Mohammed Akbar said “the High Court was firm in its earlier interim order and had stopped these 11 Parliamentary Secretaries to work like ministers”.