Himachal Pradesh HC orders immediate withdrawal of facilities provided to 6 Congress MLAs appointed as CPS
The high court declared the Himachal Pradesh Parliamentary Secretaries Act, 2006, void in petitions by BJP leaders challenging the appointment of MLAs as chief parliamentary secretaries.
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The division bench of Justice Vivek Singh Thakur and Justice Bipin Chander Negi issued the order in petitions by BJP leaders alleging that no such post of CPS exists under the Constitution or any statute or Act passed by Parliament. (File Photo)
In a major setback to the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu government, a division bench of the Himachal Pradesh High Court on Wednesday declared the Himachal Pradesh Parliamentary Secretaries Act, 2006, void and directed the state to immediately withdraw all facilities provided to the six chief parliamentary secretaries (CPS) in the government.
The Congress government, formed in December 2020 under CM Sukhu, appointed six MLAs as CPS and granted them facilities equivalent to those of state ministers. The six MLAs are Ram Kumar Chaudhary, Sanjay Awasthi, Ashish Butail, Sunder Singh Thakur, Mohan Lal Brakta, and Kishori Lal. They have been receiving monthly wages of approximately Rs 2 lakh each, as well as other benefits such as vehicles, office staff, and allowances.
The division bench of Justice Vivek Singh Thakur and Justice Bipin Chander Negi issued the order in petitions by BJP leaders alleging that no such post of CPS exists under the Constitution or any statute or Act passed by Parliament.
BJP leader Satpal Singh Satti and several of his party MLAs contended in the petitions that the appointment to the CPS posts was a burden on the state exchequer. The Sukhu government defended the appointments, stating they complied with the provisions of the state Act passed by the Legislative Assembly.
“The division bench ruled on the matter concerning the CPS following three petitions challenging their appointments in 2023. One of the petitions was filed by at least ten BJP MLAs,” said advocate Veer Bahadur, representing the BJP MLAs, shortly after the order was announced.
The detailed order was yet to be made available.
Meanwhile, Himachal Pradesh Advocate General Anup Rattan said, “The state government will challenge the judgement of the high court in the apex court shortly. Now, the six MLAs are not CPS. As the division bench termed the HP Parliamentary Secretaries Act 2006 void, there is no question to retain the CPS.”
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