Gujarat CM plans to appoint parliamentary secretaries; Congress leader warns: I will drag you to court

By A Representative
In a move that has made Opposition Congress raise eye-brows, Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani has begun consultations to appoint parliamentary secretaries, allegedly to manage "growing dissent" in the party because of failure to satisfy all the groups -- caste and regional -- seeking ministerial berth.
Talking with me on the sidelines of a media conference on the issue, Congress' all-India spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil revealed, things have gone so bad that BJP MLAs have been frankly discussing with Congress leaders about how Rupani is trying to assuage the MLAs' dissatisfaction by making this offer.
"At least two senior BJP MLAs, whose names I would not like to reveal, have approached me to find out whether the offer, if accepted, could be challenged in the court of law. I have told them, in the light of the Supreme Court judgment of July 2017, no state government can appoint parliamentary secretaries. The judgment bars states to even enact law on this", Gohil said.
If the ruling party's appoints parliamentary secretaries, it would be considered is illegal, as under the law, it cannot appoint more than 15% of its MLAs' strength as ministers. Holding the office of parliamentary secretaries over and above the 15% MLAs' strength would amount to giving them the right to enjoy salaries and perks equal to a minister, as also peruse files.
The MLAs as parliamentary secretaries would, therefore, be holding "office of profit", as their appointment would be in conflict with their duties and interests as elected members.
Himself a senior Gujarat High Court advocate, Gohil said, "I warned these MLA, that if Rupani decides to appoint them as parliamentary secretaries in Gujarat, I would challenge it in the court, as it would be a contempt of the Supreme Court judgment. The judgment is absolutely clear: It bars any such appointments under whatever circumstances."
Pointing out that he has already written a letter the Gujarat governor telling him how the move is "undemocratic and unconstitutional", Gohil insisted, "The governor should not allow the chief minister to go for this undemocratic and unconstitutional extension of his government."
"In my letter to the governor, I have placed all the legal facts as elaborated in the Supreme Court judgment and constitutional amendment", he said.
The Supreme Court judgment was in response to a 2005 public interest litigation (PIL), in which a three person bench ruled that the concept of parliamentary secretary with powers and salaries like minister was unconstitutional and state governments have no power to frame any law about this. I will surely win the case."
Gohil's tough stance comes amidst a raging controversy around the Election Commission of India (ECI) disqualifying 20 Aam Aadmi Party MLAs as they were appointed parliamentary secretaries by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in "violation" of the apex court order. The previous Gujarat government, also under Rupani, had 11 parliamentary secretaries.
Addressing the media for the first time after his surprise defeat in the Gujarat state assembly elections, held last month, Gohil said, "Jumbo ministries have become a matter of the past as both the houses of Parliament passed a bill restricting the size of the ministry to 15% of the total number of MLAs of a state."
"This has been made a law as the President has cleared it. Now, no government can appoint parliamentary secretary, nor it can have ministers more than 15% of the strength of the House", the senior state Congress leader said, adding, "Despite such clear picture, the Rupani government is planning to induct parliamentary secretaries."

Comments

K SHESHU BABU said…

Appointments of personal secretaries by various governments have been done to appease politicians. While some parties like AAP have been questioned, other parties have not been asked to explain reasons. This is double standard. The Supreme Court should lay down standard directives so that every party in power follows the set guidelines

January 28, 2018

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

India's health workers have no legal right for their protection, regrets NGO network

Counterview Desk In a letter to Union labour and employment minister Santosh Gangwar, the civil rights group Occupational and Environmental Health Network of India (OEHNI), writing against the backdrop of strike by Bhabha hospital heath care workers, has insisted that they should be given “clear legal right for their protection”.

Uttarakhand tunnel disaster: 'Question mark' on rescue plan, appraisal, construction

By Bhim Singh Rawat* As many as 40 workers were trapped inside Barkot-Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi after a portion of the 4.5 km long, supposedly completed portion of the tunnel, collapsed early morning on Sunday, Nov 12, 2023. The incident has once again raised several questions over negligence in planning, appraisal and construction, absence of emergency rescue plan, violations of labour laws and environmental norms resulting in this avoidable accident.

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

Job opportunities decreasing, wages remain low: Delhi construction workers' plight

By Bharat Dogra* It was about 32 years back that a hut colony in posh Prashant Vihar area of Delhi was demolished. It was after a great struggle that the people evicted from here could get alternative plots that were not too far away from their earlier colony. Nirmana, an organization of construction workers, played an important role in helping the evicted people to get this alternative land. At that time it was a big relief to get this alternative land, even though the plots given to them were very small ones of 10X8 feet size. The people worked hard to construct new houses, often constructing two floors so that the family could be accommodated in the small plots. However a recent visit revealed that people are rather disheartened now by a number of adverse factors. They have not been given the proper allotment papers yet. There is still no sewer system here. They have to use public toilets constructed some distance away which can sometimes be quite messy. There is still no...

Women's rights leaders told to negotiate with Muslimness, as India's donor agencies shun the word Muslim

By A Representative Former vice-president Hamid Ansari has sharply criticized donor agencies engaged in nongovernmental development work, saying that they seek to "help out" marginalizes communities with their funds, but shy away from naming Muslims as the target group, something, he insisted, needs to change. Speaking at a book release function in Delhi, he said, since large sections of Muslims are poor, they need political as also social outreach.

Warning bells for India: Tribal exploitation by powerful corporate interests may turn into international issue

By Ashok Shrimali* Warning bells are ringing for India. Even as news drops in from Odisha that Adivasi villages, one after another, are rejecting the top UK-based MNC Vedanta's plea for mining, a recent move by two senior scholars Felix Padel and Samarendra Das suggests the way tribals are being exploited in India by powerful international and national business interests may become an international issue. In fact, one has only to count days when things may be taken up at the United Nations level, with India being pushed to the corner. Padel, it may be recalled, is a major British authority on indigenous peoples across the world, with several scholarly books to his credit.

Gujarat Bitcoin scam worth Rs 5,000 crore "linked" with BJP leaders: Need for Supreme Court monitored probe

By Shaktisinh Gohil* BJP hit a jackpot in the form of demonetisation, which it used as an alibi to convert black money into white in Gujarat. Even as party scrambles for answers of how the Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank (ADCB), whose director is BJP president Amit Shah, received old currency worth Rs 745.58 crore in just five days, and how Rs 3118.51 crore was deposited in 11 district cooperative banks linked with Gujarat BJP leaders, a new mega Bitcoin scam, worth more than Rs 5,000 crore has been unraveled.

Counterview

Search This Blog