SHILLONG: The petitioner of the PIL that challenged appointment of parliamentary secretaries, Madal Sumer, met the Governor of the state, Ganga Prasad on Monday, to seek the disqualification of 17 MLAs appointed as parliamentary secretaries.
Sumer was accompanied by Augustine Shanpru, president of the Meghalaya Truck Owners and Operators Association (MCTOOA) in the wake of the High Court of Meghalaya struck down the Meghalaya Parliamentary Secretaries (Appointment, Salaries, Allowances and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2005 as invalid.
It may be mentioned that Meghalaya High Court, has left the question of disqualification of the 17 parliamentary secretaries as MLAs ‘open’ for determination by the governor, if raised in accordance with law.
In the petition, Sumer has urged the Governor, being the highest Constitutional authority of the state, to exercise the power contemplated under Article 192 of the Constitution of India and to take a decision on the issue of disqualification of all the 17 MLAs.
Meanwhile, speaking to reporters outside the entrance of Raj Bhavan late in the evening, Shanpru said, “On the part of the Governor, he made it clear that he will follow the Article 192 of the Indian Constitution.”
The Governor informed them that the matter will have to be taken up at the level of the Speaker as well as the Election Commission of India.
Shanpru observed that the state government had allotted different appointments to MLAs whereas it did not show any responsibility towards looking after the welfare of youth even though the unemployment was on the rise.
In the petition, Sumer stated that the 17 MLAs held the post under the State which was capable of yielding pecuniary gain and as such they were holding the “office of profit” under the state as per the proposition of law laid down by the Supreme Court.
He referred to the law laid down by the apex Court in Jaya Bachchan vs Union of India case- it has been held that an office of profit is an office which is capable of yielding a profit or pecuniary gain and holding an office under the Central or State Government to which some pay, salary, emolument, remuneration or non-compensatory allowances is attached, is “holding an office of profit.”
“The said MLAs are therefore liable to be disqualified for holding “office of profit” under the Article 191 (1) (a) of Constitution of India,” he stated.
Sumer asserted that the Judgement and Order dated November 9, 2017 of Meghalaya High Court has rendered the appointment of the Parliamentary Secretaries void meaning thereby that the appointments are unconstitutional from the very beginning.
On the other hand, Sumer criticised the state government on the creation of new districts, terming the new districts as “shell districts,” as there were no government schools, colleges, hospitals in most of these districts.
According to him, the government doesn’t have money to build any of the public necessities, but it has “lots of money” to spend on posts like Parliamentary Secretaries etc.