Speaker bars CPS and PS from querying in Himachal Pradesh assembly
Shimla, Sept 22
In a recent ruling, Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania clarified that Chief Parliamentary Secretaries (CPS) and Parliamentary Secretaries (PS) are not authorized to ask questions in the state assembly. Speaker Pathania stated that as representatives of the government in the assembly, members from the government benches, including CPS and PS, are not permitted to raise queries or supplementary questions.
This decision came after a point of order was raised by Opposition Leader Jai Ram Thakur, objecting to CPS Sanjay Awasthi’s attempt to ask a supplementary question. Speaker Pathania expunged Mr. Awasthi’s query from the records of the day’s proceedings, affirming that CPS and PS should refrain from asking questions.
Speaker Pathania emphasized that CPS and PS, although products of the assembly through an enacted Act, are not equivalent to cabinet ministers. They lack the authority to make policy decisions and hold no special privileges. Additionally, they cannot display tricolor or red beacons on their vehicles.
This ruling is a response to a 2004 high court decision that deemed the positions of CPS and PS as illegal. The government subsequently passed the CPS and PS Act to legitimize these roles, creating eight non-constitutional posts.
In response, Chief Minister Sukhu defended the distinction between CPS/PS and ministers, stating that they are not constitutional functionaries. He highlighted that these positions are administrative in nature, primarily involving the signing of files, with no binding policy-making authority.
The Chief Minister also pointed out that the opposition party had similarly created positions such as chief whip and whip, underscoring that CPS and PS are created roles, not constitutional functionaries.
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