CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana high court on Wednesday set aside the appointment of
Suresh Kumar as the chief principal secretary to Punjab Chief Minister Captain
Amarinder Singh.
Justice
Rajan Gupta of the HC passed these orders while allowing a petition filed by
Ramandeep Singh, a resident of Mohali.
Petitioner had submitted that Suresh Kumar, who is a retired IAS officer, had been appointed as the CPSCM and was given the pay of cabinet secretary of the Union government through an order issued on March 17, 2017, without defining the terms and conditions of appointment and without even obtaining the approval of the council of ministers.
The petitioner had also alleged that the appointment orders of Suresh Kumar were issued hurriedly and clothed in secrecy to the extent that it has not been officially circulated even to the administrative secretaries of Punjab government till date.
According to the petitioner after March 17 orders, a subsequent order was issued in pursuance to Rule 18 and 19 of the Rules of Business of the Government of Punjab 1992 on April 8 delegating and assigning Kumar some of the powers of the CM Punjab himself as well as all powers and functions of the Principal Secretary to the CM.
Petitioner has sought directions to set-aside the March 17 and April 8, 2017 orders and all consequential orders through which Suresh Kumar has been appointed as the CPSCM and the delegation and assignment of powers for being violative of the provisions of the All India Services Act and related rules.
