Return money spent on CPSs’ appointment to treasury: BJP

Shimla: Himachal Pradesh BJP vice-president and Lok Sabha MP Rajeev Bhardwaj said on Thursday that all funds spent following the appointment of the six Chief Parliamentary Secretaries (CPSs) should be returned to the treasury, as it constitutes a misuse of government resources.
Bhardwaj was interacting with the mediapersons after meeting governor Shiv Pratap Shukla at the Raj Bhawan. He added that the high court has delivered a historic decision by setting aside the appointment of the six CPSs appointed by the Congress government. Ever since the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led Congress government appointed CPSs, all BJP leaders were continuously opposing this decision as these appointments were only putting financial burden on the state, he said. Bhardwaj also said that he has heard that the state government is going to the Supreme Court, but its petition is not going to stand in the apex court. Bhardwaj added that otherwise also these six CPSs should have resigned on moral grounds. The division bench, while allowing the petition moved by the BJP leaders and an advocate, had quashed the ‘HP Parliamentary Secretaries (Appointment, Salaries, Allowances, Powers, Privileges & Amenities) Act, 2006’ after finding it to be beyond the legislative competence of the state legislature. As a result, the high court annulled the appointment of six CPSs made under this Act.