Constitutional provisions not violated: AG

Jaipur, Feb, 20 (UNI) Rajasthan Advocate General B P Agarwal has said the constitutional provisions for determining the size of Council of Ministers were not violated due to the appointment of Parliamentary Secretaries in the state.

Mr Agarwal said, in his report tabled in the state Assembly today, the Parliamentary Secretaries who had not been administered the oath of office and secrecy by the Governor as per the clause (3) of Article 164 of the constitution could not be counted in the total strength of the Council of Ministers, as mentioned in Article 164 (1A) of the constitution.

He said the ruling given by Rajasthan Assembly Speaker Sumitra Singh on February 21, 2005 on the status and capacity of Parliamentary Secretary, was perfectly in order and it did not require any review.

The AG also stated the definition of a Minister as laid down in Rule 2 of the Rajasthan Assembly Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Lok Sabha did not require to be amended.

''At the most, an explanation to the definition of Rule 2 might be added to explain that a Parliamentary Secretary, who is not a member of the House cannot attend its sittings,'' Mr Agarwal opined.

UNI SS HS KN1848