IMPHAL, August 28: The hearing of the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) case filed against the appointment of five Parliamentary Secretaries due to commence from today before a division bench of the High Court of Manipur was deferred for three weeks.
The decision was taken by a division bench comprising of Chief Justice, LK Mohapatra and Justice N Kotishwar Singh, following a prayer from the counsel of the respondents, advocate general Ibohal, to defer the case.
In his plea submitted to the Government the advocate general, clarified that he had been instructed so by the state Government.
It may be recalled, Dr Khomdon Singh Lisham filed a PIL (10 of 2012) before the then Guwahati High Court, Imphal bench challenging the appointment of Parliamentary Secretaries. The case is still pending at the High Court of Manipur (present).
Against this backdrop, the same petitioner filed another miscellaneous petition (No. MC (PIL)/3/2013) before the same Court pleading to keep at abeyance the appointment order of the five Parliamentary Secretaries by the Government of Manipur.
The MLAs who were appointed as Parliamentary Secretaries included Keisam Meghachandra Singh, given charge of Minor Irrigation and Information & Public relations, Mairenbam Prithvi Raj Singh with charge of Tourism and Youth Affaris/Sports, Vungzagin Valte given charge of Horticulture and Soil Conservation, CADA; Md Amin Shah given charge of Minorities, OBC & SC, Science & Technology and Victor Keishing-Tribal Affairs & Hills and information Technology.
They were sworn in on October 8, 2012 by the Chief Minister of Manipur following their appointment order dated October 6, 2012.