Deputy CM’S post political, not constitutional, say legal experts

CHANDIGARH: Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), the 10-month-old outfit set up by former MP Dushyant Chautala, has his great grandfather Devi Lal, a former deputy prime minister, as its inspirational mascot.

And Dushyant’s swearing-in as the deputy chief minister of Haryana has a parallel in his great grandfather Devi Lal’s swearing-in as the deputy prime minister three decades ago.

Dushyant’s swearing-in on Sunday stirred up his supporters creating hype about his status as a person who is second in command after the chief minister and probably would be a notch higher than other ministers. However, facts tell a different story.

The Constitution does not provide for the title or post of deputy chief minister or deputy prime minister, legal experts say. An interpretation of such designations has been made by the Supreme Court in its orders.

An apex court bench headed by Justice Rangnath Mishra in a 1990 judgment had held that a deputy prime minister is just a minister like other members of the council of ministers. Justice Mishra had passed this order on a petition challenging the legal and constitutional validity of description of a person (Devi Lal) as deputy prime minister. Legal experts say the apex court order also applied to the states.

The petitioner had challenged the 1989 appointment of the then deputy prime minister and Dushyant’s great grandfather Devi Lal on the ground that the oath administered to him as such was not in accordance with the prescription of the Constitution.

“Devi Lal was administered the oath of a minister of the Union of India but he insisted on reading it as deputy prime minister,” according to a book quoting the then President, R Venkataraman, who administered the oath.

“The description of him (Devi Lal) as deputy prime minister does not confer on him any power of the prime minister. It cannot, therefore, be said that the oath administered to him as deputy prime minister was not in accordance with the prescription of the Constitution,” the apex court had ruled three decades ago. Dushyant also described himself as a deputy CM while taking the oath on Sunday.

The then attorney general, Soli Sorabjee, had told the apex court that the form prescribed in the Third Schedule of the

Constitution (dealing with the oath of the ministers of the Union and the States) is only for a minister of the Union and there is no separate form even for the prime minister.

“Since the prime minister is also a member of the council of ministers, he takes the same oath as the other ministers are required to take,” Sorabjee had said.

The then attorney general said yet in view of the fact that the Constitution describes him as the prime minister and while being sworn into office, he describes himself as prime minister and this practice is in vogue since 1950. The oath register is signed by the incumbent as prime minister and all other ministers sign as ministers.

Sorabjee had told the apex court that describing Devi Lal as deputy prime minister is descriptive only and for all purposes, he is a minister and there is no constitutional sanction for the post of deputy prime minister as such.

DUSHYANT CHAUTALA’S SUPPORTERS CREATED HYPE ABOUT HIS STATUS AS SECOND IN COMMAND AFTER THE CM, BUT FACTS TELL A DIFFERENT STORY