The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has called for the immediate recovery of public funds spent on the salaries and benefits of Chief Parliamentary Secretaries (CPS) following the recent Himachal Pradesh High Court ruling that declared their appointments unconstitutional.
Lok Sabha MP Dr. Rajiv Bhardwaj, while interacting with media interaction after meeting Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla at Raj Bhavan, hailed the High Court’s decision as “historic,” emphasizing that the appointments of CPS by the state government had placed an undue financial burden on the state. “From the day these appointments were made by the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu government, the BJP had opposed them, pointing out that they were an unnecessary expense for the state,” he stated.
He argued that all public funds spent on the CPS should be returned to the government treasury, labelling the expenditure as a misuse of taxpayer money. “The money spent on salaries, allowances, and other benefits for the CPS must be recovered. It is the responsibility of the government to ensure that these funds are returned to the treasury,” Bhardwaj said.
The High Court, in its ruling, cancelled the appointments of six CPS, declaring them illegal, unconstitutional, and void. The court also struck down the Himachal Pradesh Parliamentary Secretary (Appointment, Salary, Allowances, Powers, Privileges, and Facilities) Act, 2006, which had provided the framework for the appointments, ruling that it was beyond the legislative competence of the state assembly.
The CPS whose appointments were nullified include MLAs from Rohru, Kullu, Arki, Baijnath, Doon, and Palampur. Bhardwaj also called on the CPS to resign on moral grounds, stating, “These appointments were not only illegal but also morally wrong. The CPS should step down immediately.”
Bhardwaj criticized the state government’s reported plan to challenge the High Court’s decision in the Supreme Court, asserting that such a move would not hold up legally. “The High Court’s ruling is clear, and any petition by the state government will not stand,” he added.
