Supreme Court defers dismissing State Govt transfer petition in CPS case 

In a major setback to the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu government Supreme Court dismissed the transfer petition in the CPS case from Himachal Pradesh High Court to apex court today.

According to Satpal Jain, the counsel for the BJP MLA Satpal Singh Satti and others said that the Double Bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice SVN Bhatti in the court number -3 of SC today dismissed the transfer petition filed by the all dix CPS appointed by Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu in December 2022.

It is worthwhile to mention that six Chiefs Parliamentary Secretaries moved in the SC last month seeking to club three cases related to the appointment of CPS pending in Himachal Pradesh High Court with similar petitions pending before the Supreme Court of India related to the state of Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, and Punjab.

The counsel for the petitioner in the case before Himachal Pradesh High Court Senior Counsel Satpal Jain was present in SC said that Congress’s transfer petition has been rejected in the Supreme Court.  

“Himachal government had gone to the Supreme Court in the CPS case, but could not get relief.” Mr Jain said.

Earlier to the court order counsel for the petitioner Abhishek Manusinghvai demanded to club the matter with the similar petitions pending before the SC relating to the appointment of CPS however the counsel for the respondents Satpal Jain opposed the contention of Petioner stating that the two matters are not identical and respondent which is petitioner on this matter before Himachal Pradesh High court is against to club this matter.

Mr Jain said that the SC dismissed this transfer petition and held that the petitions pending before the SC in the matter of CPS related to other states are of a different nature and should be heard before the Himachal Pradesh High Court and could not be clubbed. 

 Leader of Opposition Jairam Thakur and BJP State President Dr. Rajeev Bindal hailed the apex court order and stated that this decision is a big blow to the Congress government of Himachal Pradesh.  

They said that the previous decisions taken by the various  Courts in the matter of appointment of  Chief Parliamentary Secretary were declared unconstitutional.

 In the last hearing, the Himachal government had sought time to file a rebuttal against the argument presented by the petitioners in the High Court. 

Himachal government appointed six CPS in December  2022 and an appointment was challenged by 11 BJP MLAs, the People for Responsible Governance organization, and a woman l in the High Court.

According to the amendment made in Article 164 of the Indian Constitution, the number of ministers in any state could exceed 15 percent of the total number of MLAs. After the appointment of CPS in the state, the number of ministers has increased by more than 15 percent. 

The organization has alleged in the petition that the appointment of CPS is contrary to the provisions of the law. These people are getting the same salary and other facilities as the ministers.

According to the organization People for Responsible Governance, the appointment of CPS should therefore be canceled.

It has been alleged that all the CPS are posted on the office of profit as they are being paid Rs 2,20,000 per month as salary and allowances.

 The petition has sought repeal of the Himachal Parliamentary Secretary (Appointment, Salary, Allowances, Powers, Privileges and Facilities) Act, 2006.

Chief Minister Sukhu has appointed MLA Sanjay Awasthi from Arki, Sundar Singh Thakur from Kullu, Ram Kumar from Doon, Mohan Lal Barakta from Rohru, Ashish Butel from Palampur and Kishori Lal from Baijnath as CPS.

Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri and senior officers of the Rajbhavan, state government were also made a party in the petition by the 11 BJP MLAs. The Dy Chief Minister has also filed an application before the Himachal Pradesh High Court to remove him as a party. 

But the High Court on October 16 rejected the Dy CM’s plea and said that he could not be removed party as Petioner had given sufficient material on the record to challenge the state appointment of Dy CM and the matter is fixed for hearing in Himachal Pradesh High court tomorrow.