BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court on Monday issued notice to the State Government on a PIL questioning the appointment of advisors/political secretaries to the Chief Minister. A division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum issued notice after hearing the petition filed by Samaj Parivarthana Samudaya, represented by its founder president S R Hiremath.
The petitioner has challenged the appointment of Mahadev Prakash, Mohan A Limbikai, GS Sunil, Shankargowda I Patil, MP Renukacharya, Belur Sudarshan, MB Maramkal and Lakshminarayana. It may be noted that some of them have resigned from their post.
The petitioner contended that a post equivalent to a Constitutional office cannot be created under an executive order, under Article 162 of the Constitution of India. This is exactly what is done in the appointment of the advisors/political secretaries. The government has virtually created parallel hybrid Constitutional functionalities just to please loyalists. These posts are aimless and meaningless, the petitioner claimed.
It was also contended in the plea that the ruling party could not accommodate its followers who helped it form the government either on its own or by toppling the existing one. Hence, an ingenious methodology was devised to accommodate these loyalists and lobbyists in the government by providing the status of a cabinet minister. This has been achieved by creating several “advisor” posts with cabinet ministerial rank.