Chandigarh, August 3: A Mohali resident, Ramandeep Singh, has moved the Punjab and Haryana high court against the appointment of retired IAS officer Suresh Kumar as chief principal secretary to chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh. The petition claims that the appointment is against the Constitutional scheme and accepted norms.
His counsel, Rajan Brar had argued that the tenure of Kumar, has been made co-terminus with that of the government. He has been delegated the powers to oversee functioning of principal secretary to the chief minister which is a cadre post. “Thus, a public office, has been usurped by a retired IAS officer. This apart, there is no provision in the rules for bestowing rank of a cabinet secretary on a retired officer,” Brar told the court.
Kumar was appointed in the rank of Cabinet Secretary of Government of India on March 17, a day after Amarinder took over as the CM. The HC bench of justice Rajan Gupta has sought response from government by August 30.
A post graduate in commerce from Delhi University, Kumar is a 1983 batch IAS officer.
He started his career as a SDM in Talwandi Sabo and retired as additional chief secretary (Development) in April 2016. Kumar served the Punjab government and remained on central deputation in different capacities.
News Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com
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