Raipur:
The Chhattisgarh High Court has directed a petitioner challenging the recent cabinet expansion to submit an affidavit detailing his social work and background, in order to assess the seriousness of the public interest litigation (PIL).
The petitioner, 70-year-old Basudev Chakravarty, describes himself as a social worker. The division bench sought his credentials while hearing the matter on Friday. The court also asked the Advocate General of Chhattisgarh to present the state’s stand. The next hearing is scheduled for September 2.
According to Article 164(1A) of the Constitution, the strength of a state cabinet cannot exceed 15% of the total number of members in the Legislative Assembly. Chhattisgarh has 90 MLAs, of which 15% comes to 13.5. The petitioner’s counsel, Abhyuday Singh, argued that this figure should be rounded down to 13, and that appointing 14 ministers would cross the constitutional cap.
The Chhattisgarh government recently inducted three new ministers — Gajendra Yadav, Guru Khushwant Saheb, and Rajesh Agrawal — taking the council of ministers, including the Chief Minister, to 14.
The Congress has objected to the expansion, contending that the number of ministers cannot exceed 13 in a 90-member assembly, and has termed the induction of 14 ministers unconstitutional. The BJP, however, dismissed the allegation as baseless and pointed to the formula applied in Haryana to justify its move.
