The creation of the post of cabinet secretary in the state and giving him the status and pay scale of Rs 30,000, which is equivalent to that of the Cabinet Secretary of the Central Government, is improper and against the federal structure of the Constitution. This was stated in an affidavit filed by Additional Solicitor General Ashok Nigam on behalf of the Government of India in the Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court on Monday.

The affidavit was filed during the hearing of a PIL filed by Shiv Pratap Shukla, a practising lawyer of the Lucknow Bench. In the PIL, the petitioner had challenged the appointment of Shashank Shekhar Singh as cabinet secretary saying that it was an IAS cadre post and Singh was not from the cadre. Shukla had sought clarifications from the Centre and the state Government regarding his appointment and had appealed quashing of the same since it violated cadre rules and Article 312 of the Constitution.

Soon after coming to power, the Mayawati Government had brought in changes in the 1975 Transaction of Business Rules in order to bring Singh, a pilot by profession, on par with the state chief secretary. He was given the additional charge of administrative head of the Secretariat.

However, on Saturday, Mayawati announced in the Assembly that on Singh’s request, she had relieved him of the additional charge of administrative head, besides stripping him of his cabinet minister status. On Sunday, the Government also reverted the 1975 Transaction Business Rules.

... contd.