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HC shocker to KCR govt
Highlights
In a setback to the Telangana government, a division bench of the Hyderabad High Court on Friday stayed the GO 173, appointing six legislators of ruling TRS as the Parliamentary Secretaries. The bench comprising Chief Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta and Justice P V Sanjay Kumar passed the interim orders on petitions filed by Congress MP Gutha Sukhender Reddy and Telugu Desam Party legislator
Six Parliamentary Secretaries to lose their jobs
- Cabinet size shall not exceed 15% of total strength of Assembly
- The Secretaries were provided with the rank of Minister of State
Hyderabad: In a setback to the Telangana government, a division bench of the Hyderabad High Court on Friday stayed the GO 173, appointing six legislators of ruling TRS as the Parliamentary Secretaries. The bench comprising Chief Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta and Justice P V Sanjay Kumar passed the interim orders on petitions filed by Congress MP Gutha Sukhender Reddy and Telugu Desam Party legislator A Revanth Reddy, who challenged the appointments.
Speaking to The Hans India, Jandhyala Ravishankar , the counsel for petitioner A Revanth Reddy, said that in the past, too, high courts had set aside such appointments made by various governments. The Constitution lays down that the Council of Ministers strength should not exceed 15 per cent of the total strength of the Assembly. Creation of some more posts that are equal to Ministers is not allowed by the Constitution.
The petitioners argued that the posts were created by the TRS government to provide benefits to the ruling party leaders at the cost of the public exchequer. Challenging the constitutional validity of the Telangana Parliamentary Secretaries (Appointment, salaries, allowances and miscellaneous provisions) Act, 2015, the counsel for the petitioner said that, “the Article 164 (1A) provides for limiting the number of Ministers in State Cabinets.
The total number of Ministers including the Chief Minister has to be within 15 per cent of the total number of the Members of the Legislative Assembly of the State concerned. Article 164 (1A) was inserted in the Constitution on the recommendation of the National Commission for Review of the working of the constitution headed by former CJI, M N Venkatachaliah, to avert misuse and drainage of public money and to put a ban on over-sized cabinet.”
In 2009, in the case of Adv. Aires Rodrigues Vs The state of Goa and others, a Division Bench of the Bombay High Court discussed the impact of arbitrary State action relating to appointment of Parliament Secretaries in Goa. It held that appointing Parliamentary Secretaries of the rank and status of a Cabinet Minister is in violation to Article 164 (1A) of the Constitution and set aside the appointment of two Parliamentary Secretaries in the State government. In another case in 2005, in Citizen Rights Protection Forum Vs Union of India and others, the Himachal Pradesh High Court quashed the appointment of Chief Parliamentary Secretaries and Parliament Secretaries.
It held that “(Parliamentary Secretaries) are usurpers of public office since their appointments did not owe their origin to any constitutional or legal provision, they having been appointed by person(s) not vested with the power of appointment.” The court further directed the government not to make any new appointment without its permission. The government maintained that the objective of the Act was to help Cabinet Ministers in the state assembly when it is in session.
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