Parl secys in Arunachal lose posts after guv order

All 23 parliamentary secretaries in Arunachal Pradesh have lost their positions with Governor Brig (Retd) Dr B D Mishra yesterday issuing an order in this direction, a senior official said today.

The governor, in its order, said "23 members of Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly shall cease to be parliamentary secretaries", in line with the directions of the Itanagar Permanent Bench of Gauhati High Court, Chief Secretary Satya Gopal said.

"The order will be effective forthwith retrospectively from the date of pronouncement of the judgement by the court," Gopal stated.

A High Court bench comprising Justice Monojit Bhuyan and Justice Rumi Kumari Phukon, while closing a PIL filed by one Kyoda Ram, pronounced the Arunachal Pradesh Parliamentary Secretaries (Appointment, Salaries, Allowances and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2007 as 'unconstitutional' on July 25, citing a Supreme Court judgment of 2017.

"Parties are agreed that in view of the decision of the Supreme Court, the PIL does not survive for further consideration," the judges stated while giving their verdict.

The apex court, while disposing of a writ petition filed in 2006 by Bimalangshu Roy against the passage of Assam Parliamentary Secretaries (Appointment, Salaries, Allowances and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act by the then Congress government in the state, had stated that Article 194 "does not expressly authorize the state legislature to create such an office, and that the Assam legislature lacks the competence to make the act".