Cabinet decisions taken by Rawat declared null and void
DEHRADUN: Even as the Opposition demanded action against former chief minister Harish Rawat for holding two cabinet meetings in 24-hour tenure, government officials said the decisions taken by the cabinet were rendered null and void following the Supreme Court stay on the Uttarakhand high court’s order.
“All decisions taken by the Harish Rawat cabinet on April 21-22 are bound to be declared null and void for want of authority by them to take decisions officially,” said a senior bureaucrat and official of the rank of principal secretary on the condition of anonymity. The official said that the Governor’s office had not received the high court order on time. Rawat, by then, had held two cabinet meetings and taken 11 populist decisions.
Meanwhile, officials in Governor KK Paul’s office said that he was unhappy with the way in which Rawat called for a cabinet meeting in the absence of a formal HC order reinstating his government on April 21. Although Paul acknowledged the court order via other sources and was later informed of it by a delegation of Congress legislators led by Rawat, it could not be formally approved in the absence of papers. As a result, the Governor had no option but to assume it as being declared null and void.
State BJP leaders on Saturday demanded action against Rawat for holding cabinet meetings and illegally exploiting the public exchequer. “Why was Harish Rawat in a tearing hurry to preside over the cabinet meeting by thwarting constitutional norms? Even when HC had ordered to revive the state government, what was the compulsion for holding the cabinet meeting at the cost of the state exchequer? Rawat had no locus standi for taking important decisions. The Governor must take notice of this,” said BJP leader Satpal Maharaj.
“The Governor must take legal action against Rawat and his cabinet members for holding meetings, which was a clear violation of article 357(2) that disallows any type of policy decision under the circumstances in which decisions were taken by the Harish Rawat government,” he said.