Court raps State on Parliamentary Secretaries
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, January 19 2013 :
A division bench of Gauhati High Court, comprising justices TNK Singh and SR Sen has issued show cause notice to the Government of Manipur with regard to appointment of five Parliamentary Secretaries.
According to an informed source, the Court's show cause notice issued on January 17 is based on a public interest litigation filed by former MACS Project Director Dr Khomdon Singh Lisam, with advocate Th Manihar representing the petitioner.
The petitioner reportedly drew the Court's attention that Manipur Parliamentary Secretary (Appointment, Salary and Allowances, and Miscellaneous provisions) Act 2012 is ultra vires and unconstitutional besides mentioning that the total number of Ministers including the chief Minister in the Council of Ministers in a State should not exceed 15 percent of the total number of members of the legislative assembly of that State.
Under prescribed norms, number of Ministers including the CM in a State shall not be less than 12 and under the specified percentage but in the case of Manipur the number of Ministers, including the five Parliamentary Secretaries, is 17, the petitioner pointed out in the PIL.
Further highlighting that such appointment of the five Parliamentary Secretaries with Minister of State status/rank is a violation of the provisions of the Indian Constitution, Dr Khomdon also maintained that there is no provision in the Indian Constitution for taking oath of secrecy of the Ministers by the Chief Minister.
Taking into account the petitioner's points, the Court seriously observed the matter and citing its public importance issued the show cause notice to the State Government and the five Parliamentary Secretaries with the directive that the notice is returnable by February 7, 2013, disclosed the source.