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Former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister and BJP leader Jairam Thakur on Wednesday welcomed the decision of the High Court to nullify the appointment of six Chief Parliamentary Secretaries of the Himachal government.
"From day one we have been saying that the appointment of chief parliamentary secretaries (CPS) by the Himachal Pradesh government is unconstitutional...The High Court has stated that the facilities given to the chief parliamentary secretaries (CPS) be withdrawn and also said that their appointment is illegal and unconstitutional...The membership of the six MLAs could also be suspended...The chief parliamentary secretaries (CPS) were functioning at the same level as the Cabinet Minister and were checking the file records...I welcome the judgement of the high court," Jairam Thakur told ANI. Earlier today, the High Court of Himachal Pradesh ordered the immediate removal of six Chief Parliamentary Secretaries of the state government with all benefits and facilities. The division bench of Justice Vivek Singh Thakur and Justice Bipin Singh Negi ordered the withdrawal of all facilities from all CPS including salaries, allowances, and power privileges. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that the order will be discussed with the ministers of the cabinet. "I haven't read the order till now, but if the HC has ordered this then it will be discussed. A discussion will be held with the ministers of the cabinet," he said. BJP lawyer Advocate Veerbahadur Verma said that the court has admitted that the 2006 act was unconstitutional and has ordered the withdrawal of the CPS facilities immediately. "10 BJP MLAs under the leadership of Satpal Sati had challenged the recruitment of CPSs, which was done according to an act of 2006, in the court. The court has admitted that the 2006 act was unconstitutional. The HC has also ordered the withdrawal of the CPS facilities immediately... If the other side decides to go to the SC, they will not get any relief there also... The act has been repealed," Verma told ANI. Advocate General Anup Kumar Rattan said that the state assembly had no power to bring the 2006 act. "The petition challenging CPS has been accepted by the HC and ordered the removal of Chief Parliamentary Secretaries and Parliamentary Secretaries from their posts. All their facilities have also been repealed... The state assembly had no power to bring this act... Individually as well, CPS and PS will challenge this order of the High Court in the Supreme Court," he said. The Himachal government appointed six Congress MLAs in January 2023, to serve as chief parliamentary secretaries. The appointees included Sunder Singh Thakur representing Kullu Assembly Constituency, Mohan Lal Brakta from Rohru Assembly Constituency in Shimla district, Ram Kumar Chaudhary from Doon Assembly Constituency in Solan district, Ashish Butail from Palampur Assembly Constituency, Kishori Lal from Baijnath Assembly Constituency in Kangra district, and Sanjay Awasthi from Arki Assembly Constituency in Solan district. The appointment of chief parliamentary secretaries was challenged in the High Court by 10 BJP MLAs and one individual petitioner Kalpana Devi. (ANI)
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