Himachal High Court Cancels Appointment of 6 Chief Parliamentary Secretaries, Calls It Unconstitutional.

Shimla:

The Himachal Pradesh High Court has declared the appointment of six Chief Parliamentary Secretaries (CPS) unconstitutional, ordering their immediate removal along with the withdrawal of all associated benefits and perks. A division bench of Justice Vivek Thakur and Justice Bipin Chander delivered the final ruling on Wednesday, setting aside the appointments made in January 2023 by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.

The court’s decision came after two separate petitions were filed, one by Kalpana Devi and the other by 11 BJP legislators, including Sat Pal Satti, challenging the legality of the CPS appointments. The bench ruled that the appointments were a misuse of public funds and declared the legislative Act under which the CPS were appointed as invalid.

The six CPS whose appointments were annulled are Kishori Lal (Baijnath), Mohan Lal Brakta (Rohru), Ram Kumar (Doon), Ashish Butail (Palampur), Sunder Thakur (Kullu), and Sanjay Awashty (Arki), all of whom had been appointed just before the induction of seven ministers into the state cabinet.

This is not the first time the Himachal High Court has ruled against the CPS appointments. In 2005, the court had also set aside the appointment of eight CPS and four parliamentary secretaries, including prominent figures like Mukesh Agnihotri and Thakur Singh Bharmouri.

Advocate General Anup Rattan stated that the state government would challenge the verdict in the Supreme Court, arguing that the provisions in Himachal Pradesh differ from those in Assam, where a similar order was passed. He clarified that unlike Assam, the CPS in Himachal did not have the authority to approve files but only offered advice to ministers.

The court’s ruling is likely to have significant political implications, as the CPS appointments have long been a subject of controversy in the state.