21 AAP parl. secys homeless as HC quashes appointment

NEW DELHI, September 8 : Delhi High Court today set aside the Arvind Kejriwal-led government's order appointing 21 AAP MLAs as parliamentary secretaries. A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal passed the order after the counsel appearing for Delhi government "conceded" that the March 13, 2015 order was issued without taking concurrence or views of Lieutenant Governor. Senior advocate Sudhir Nandrajog, who appeared for Delhi government, referred to the August 4 judgement passed by the High Court which had quashed several notifications issued by AAP government on the ground that they were issued without taking concurrence of the LG. "Today I have to concede that the judgement (of August 4) stands against me (Delhi government)," Nandrajog told the bench. Taking into consideration the submissions advanced by the Delhi government, the bench said, "the impugned order of the GNCTD is set aside." During the brief hearing, Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain told the bench that the Election Commission was also seized of the matter pertaining to the appointment of 21 legislators as parliamentary secretaries. In its August 4 judgement, the High Court had held that Delhi was a Union Territory and LG remained its administrative head. The Centre had on July 13 opposed the appointment of 21 parliamentary secretaries by the Aam Aadmi Party government, saying the post neither finds place in the Constitution, nor does it find a place in the Delhi Members of Legislative Assembly (Removal of Disqualification) Act of 1997, except for the post of parliamentary secretary to the Chief Minister. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had told the court that such an appointment was "not covered by the law." The MHA had made the submission in an affidavit filed in response to the court's notice to the Centre on an NGO's PIL seeking quashing of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's order appointing 21 AAP MLAs as Parliamentary Secretaries.   No parliamentary secretary now, says AAP (IANS adds) The AAP on Thursday said there are no parliamentary secretaries in Delhi following the Delhi High Court's order quashing their appointments. Delhi's ruling party noted that the verdict was based on the high court's earlier ruling giving the Lt Governor primacy in administrative affairs in the capital. Aam Aadmi Party spokesperson Dilip Pandey said the Delhi government told the court that the appointment of 21 parliamentary secretaries was made without the approval of Lt Governor Najeeb Jung. "Taking cognisance of this the high court quashed the appointments of the 21 Parliamentary Secretaries. This implies that at this point of time there is no Parliamentary Secretary in Delhi," Pandey said. Nagendar Sharma, media advisor to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, said: "After today's (Thursday) high court order there is no Parliamentary Secretary in Delhi." Sharma said they will not move the Supreme Court over the issue. "Why should we go to Supreme Court?" The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the AAP government's decision to appoint 21 party legislators as Parliamentary Secretaries.