Tags:
Journalism of Courage
The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Nagaland Government to furnish response on a petition challenging the appointment of 13 MLAs as Parliamentary Secretaries in the 60-member Assembly. A Bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice P Sathasivam also issued notices to the Centre and the 13 MLAs who were appointed as Parliamentary Secretaries.
The petition filed by former Nagaland Students Federation (NSF) president Chokriveyi Venyu sought quashing of notifications relating to the appointment and salaries of the Parliamentary Secretaries.
The former NSF president submitted that the present coalition Democratic Alliance Government in the state had given Cabinet and state minister status to all its 36 members. Terming it as a violation of Article 164 of the Constitution, the petitioner’s counsel Khawairakpam Nobin Singh alleged that appointment of Parliamentary Secretaries was an attempt to circumvent the 91st Constitutional Amendment. The amendment states that the total number of ministers, including the CM in the Council of Ministers in a state, should not exceed 15 per cent of the total strength of the Assembly.
The petition further questioned the need of having so many Parliamentary Secretaries in such a small state when a full-fledged Council of Ministers was in place. It said such appointments were unreasonable and malafide.
