PIL against UP cabinet secretary posted to Jan 11

Lucknow, Jan 5 (UNI) Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court today fixed to January 11 as the date of hearing the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the appointment of Uttar Pradesh Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh.

A division bench comprising Justices Pradeep Kant and O P Srivastava asked the petitioner to reply on the primary objections raised by the state government.

The government, represented by Supreme Court lawyer Rakesh Tripathi, has questioned the maintainability of the petition.

Mr Tripathi contended that it should be dismissed, since PILs in service related matters were not maintainable.

The PIL, which prays for the nullification of the May 13, 2007 appointment of Mr Singh, was filed by a lawyer Shivprakash Shukla yesterday.

Referring to the provisions in law, the PIL stated that his appointment was ultra vires under the Indian Administrative Service Cadre Rules and Article 312 of the Indian Constitution.

Besides, it also mentioned that Mr Singh was not an IAS officer and designating him on such a high bureaucratic position as cabinet Secretary was a breach of law.

However, the government argued that the appointment was legal as it was made under secretariat rules and Article 154 of the Constitution.

The petition, which claimed that there was no provision for the post of Cabinet Secretary in UP, had made Mr Singh, the central and state governments as opposite parties.

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