“Violations in posting Hooda loyalists to statutory panels in Haryana”

The Hindu: Chandigarh: Monday, 28 July 2014.

Officials in Haryana have raised the red flag over a clutch of hurried appointments allegedly made in violations of rules by the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government in Haryana to the State’s Right to Information Commission and the Right to Service Commission (RTSC), widely seen as a sinecure for the Chief Minister’s favourite retiring bureaucrats and loyalists.

On Sunday, five of the eight members appointed to these Commissions were administered the oath of office in an unpublicised ceremony at the Chief Minister’s residence. The new appointees, whose names were cleared by outgoing Governor Jagannath Pahadia on July 25, on the last day of his tenure, were sworn in without them being given letters of appointment.

This, because the Secretary, Administrative Reforms, Pradeep Kasni, refused to issue the appointment letters and has put on record that since the appointments fall foul of the provisions of the relevant Acts, the entire process of their selection may be put up before the Governor. The appointments were cleared without Mr. Pahadia being apprised about the violations, or there being any order of appointment from his office.

Mr. Kasni told The Hindu: “Officers must not be forced to implement blatantly illegal orders issued by the political leadership. Those who do not do their bidding are harassed in different ways.”

Haryana Chief Secretary S.C. Chaudhary, whose name has been recommended as Chief Commissioner of the Right to Service Commission (RTSC), has described Mr. Kasni’s allegations as “baseless and incorrect.”

Mr. Kasni’s note points out that the recommendation of the statutory committee headed by the Chief Minister that cleared the names of Lt Gen (Retd.) Tonk, Dr. Amar Singh, Sarban Singh (a serving IAS officer) and Sunil Katyal (an Additional Advocate General) for RTS Commissioners are against the provisions of Section 13(3) of the RTS Act 2014, according to which at least two Commissioners must be retired officers of the Haryana government in the rank of Administrative Secretary.

The recommendation of three persons as Information Commissioners was, according to Mr. Kasni’s note, a violation of the RTI Act that stipulates that they should not be holding any office of profit when the statutory committee clears their names.