Rejects BJP Manipur's communalising Manipur Chief Secretary's appointment

03 October 2015 :

MNP strongly condemns and rejects BJP Manipur's communalising Manipur Chief Secretary's appointment

MNP (Meitei Nationalist Party) strongly condemns and unequivocally rejects the communal agenda of BJP Manipur for BJP Ukhrul giving communal remarks on the appointment of the present Chief Secretary of Manipur. The party demands an unconditional public apology from BJP Manipur in this regard in the interest of the general public. The party, in the following 1 to 4 and 4 questions, questions the communal agenda of BJP Manipur and argues why BJP Manipur can not run away from public apology.

1. In the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court of India in E.P. Royappa v. State of Tamil Nadu & Anr. (supra), it was held that the post of Chief Secretary is a highly sensitive post and the Chief Secretary is a lynchpin in the administration and for smooth functioning of the administration, there should be complete rapport and understanding between the Chief Secretary and the Chief Minister and, therefore, it is only the person in whom the Chief Minister has complete confidence who can be appointed as Chief Secretary of the State and hence the Chief Secretary of a State cannot be displaced from his post on the ground that his appointment was arbitrary and violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution.

2. In a two-Judge Bench of the Supreme Court of India in State of West Bengal & Ors. v. Manas Kumar Chakraborty & Ors. (supra), it was observed that the post of DG (Director General) and IG (Inspector General) Police was a selection post and it is not open to the courts to sit in appeal over the view taken by the appointing authority with regard to the choice of the officer to be appointed as DG and IG Police and for such selection, the Government of the State must play a predominant role.

3. The judgements stated in 1 & 2 are from 33 of the reportable judgement of the Supreme Court of India in State Of Punjab vs Salil Sabhlok & Ors on 15 February, 2013 (Author: A K Patnaik, Bench: A.K. Patnaik, Madan B. Lokur).

4. In 'Is Chief Secretary a fifth wheel?' written by P.K. DORAISWAMY, Former Special Chief Secretary, Government of Andhra Pradesh in The Hindu (Tuesday, Jan 07, 2003), he writes the following under the subheading 'Court judgements'.

" In one famous judgment, the Supreme Court, dismissing the petition of an IAS officer against his supersession for promotion as Secretary to the Government of India, remarked that "it is the privilege of the master to choose his cook." In another incident, an officer was shifted from the post of Chief Secretary to a totally insignificant post "equated" under the All India Service rules to that of a Chief Secretary.

The officer argued that, by its very nature, no other post in a State administration could be really equivalent to that of a Chief Secretary and that the so-called equation under the rules was hollow and amounted effectively to camouflaging a reduction in rank. The Court unfortunately rejected this argument (which, to anyone familiar with State administration, would appear to be eminently valid) and ruled that as long as the emoluments and the grade were protected, the officer could not complain. "

QUESTIONS TO BJP MANIPUR :

Q.1 Is the appointment of Shri. O. Nabakishore Singh, IAS as the Chief Secretary of Manipur a violative of the judgement, already stated above in 1, of the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court?

Q.2 Is BJP Manipur stopped or barred by any court in India to file a PIL (Public Interest Litigation) against the appointment mentioned in Q.1?

Q.3 If the answer to Q.1 & Q.2 is both 'NO', meaning the said appointment does not violate the judgement given in 1 and no court has either stopped or barred BJP Manipur from filing the PIL, then why should not the newspaper report, Appointment of Nabakishore as new Chief Secy Tribal officers overlooked : Ukhrul BJP, published by The Sangai Express on 3rd October, 2015 be considered as an act and desperate attempt of BJP Manipur in communalising the post of Chief Secretary?

Q.4 Why should not BJP Manipur tender an unconditional public apology for defaming the new Chief Secretary of Manipur and demeaning the post of the state's Chief Secretary besides trying to communalise the post of the Chief Secretary?

MNP demands for an unconditional public apology from BJP Manipur otherwise the silence of BJP will only justify the true communal agenda of BJP in Manipur.