Chief Parliamentary Secretaries appointed: Himachal Pradesh High Court will consider appeal on April 22

The case against the appointment of Chief Parliamentary Secretaries (CPSs) was listed by the HP High Court today for a future hearing on April 22.

Today, the case was scheduled to be heard by a division bench consisting of Justices Vivek Singh Thakur and Bipin Chander Negi. The court made the following explicit observation when it listed the case for further consideration: “List for hearing in continuation on April 22, with understanding that arguments shall be heard and concluded on a day-to-day basis.”

In a plea submitted to the court, BJP leader Satpal Singh Satti and eleven other BJP MLAs claimed that neither the Indian Constitution nor any legislation or act approved by Parliament established the position of CPS.

The petition further argued that the state coffers are burdened by the appointment of people to the CPS positions. The 91st Amendment to the Constitution limited the number of ministerial seats to 15% of the House strength. In accordance with this amendment, the state may have 12 ministers because the Assembly has 68 members.

The petition further claimed that the appointment of six CPSs violated the Indian Constitution. They have been designated as CPSs, meaning they have all the authority and privileges of ministers even if they are not formally recognized as such.

The petitioner claimed in the January 8, 2023, petition that the state government had appointed six CPS against the mandate of the Indian Constitution: Sanjay Awasthi from Arki, Sundar Singh from Kullu, Ram Kumar from Doon, Mohan Lal Barakta from Rohru, Ashish Butail from Palampur, and Kishori Lal from Baijnath.