SHILLONG: Governor Ganga Prasad is yet to refer the issue related to disqualification of parliamentary secretaries to the Election Commission of India.
An official said on Saturday that since the governor was out of station attending a function in Silchar, he could not study the matter. “He will arrive on Sunday evening,” the official added.
After the High Court of Meghalaya on November 9 declared the appointment of parliamentary secretaries illegal following a PIL filed by Madal Sumer, all the parliamentary secretaries resigned from the posts.
The court also left it to the governor to decide on the disqualification of the 17 MLAs for holding the post of parliamentary secretaries.
Later on November 13, Sumer petitioned the governor seeking disqualification of the MLAs as they were holding office of profit.
The petition of Sumer and the copy of the court order are currently under scrutiny by the governor.
The petitioner is harping on the use of Article 192 of the Constitution to disqualify the 17 MLAs in the context of office of profit as the governor can decide on the matter after getting the opinion of the Election Commission.
The Article 192 states that if any question arises as to whether a member of a House of the legislature of a state has become subject to any of the disqualifications mentioned in clause (1) of Article 191 (office of profit issue), the question will be referred to the governor and his decision will be final. However, the Article points out that before giving any decision, the governor will obtain the opinion of the Election Commission.
