A day before the budget session of the Delhi Assembly, Speaker Ram Niwas Goel on Thursday said he had relieved Assembly Secretary Prasanna Kumar Suryadevara — whose transfer Mr. Goel had been fighting against in the High Court.
Against transfer
Mr. Goel had moved the Delhi High Court against then-Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung’s transfer of Mr. Suryadevara in August 2016, saying that he held a constitutional office and that the L-G could not relieve the secretary without his concurrence.
Mr. Suryadevara, who was posted to the Assembly in 2015, belongs to the All-India Radio cadre and his parent department had requested that he be repatriated.
In an official statement, Mr. Goel said he had relieved Mr. Suryadevara based on “specific requests” and that the official had relinquished charge as Assembly Secretary. When asked whether the request was made by Mr. Suryadevara, the Speaker confirmed that it was.
With the budget session scheduled to start on Friday and to go on till March 28, Mr. Goel appointed Joint Secretary C. Velmurugan to officiate as Secretary till further orders.
Hearing the case last month, the Delhi High Court had questioned how Mr. Suryadevara could continue as Delhi Assembly Secretary when his parent department had asked that he be repatriated.
In the past, Mr. Suryadevara has had stints in the offices of then-Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee as well as Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari.
