Supreme Court refused to stay High Court decision of removing Punjab CPCs

CHANDIGARH : In a major setback to SAD-BJP government in Punjab, the Supreme Court of India has refused to grant stay on Punjab and Haryana High Court decision of quashing the appointment of Chief Parliamentary Secretaries (CPSs) appointed by Punjab Government. High Court had ordered removal of 18 CPCs on August 12, 2016.
Punjab Government had filed a Special Leave Petition(SLP) in the Apex Court challenging the High Court order. Supreme court however has issued notice and PIL is likely to be listed next year after the assembly elections. Though it would not help the state government but the Supreme Court decision on petition will settle the matter for ever if the appointment of Chief Parliamentary Secretaries is violation of constitution. Attorney General Mukul Rohtagi appeared for Punjab governemnt and Prashant Bhushan appeared on behalf of H.C.Arora on whose petition High Court had quashed the appointments. The petition filed by advocates Jagmohan Singh and H.C.Arora had challenged the legal sanctity of CPC’s appointed in 2012 on the ground that there is no provision for their appointments in the constitution. Another petition challenging the appointment of another six CPCs is still pending in the High Court. Six CPCs were appointed by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal in April 2016.