5 months on RERA sans chief; Himachal HC seeks response from state govt
Taking cognisance of the issue, the Himachal Pradesh high court has sought affidavit from state government, asking 'specific reason that the state has withheld the recommendations of the selection committee.'
'Keeping in view the larger public interest, if the appointment has not been notified, affidavit be filed as to why it has not been done and what is the specific reason that the state has withheld the recommendations of the selection committee,' said the division bench comprising chief justice GS Sandhawalia and justice Ranjan Sharma on May 9, while directing the state government to file an affidavit on May 15.
This comes on the petition filed by Atul Sharma, seeking quashing of extension given to Prabodh Saxena as chief secretary of the state government on the ground that it was given in clear violation of the Central Services Rules and guidelines of department of personnel & training. The petition argued that vigilance clearance cannot be granted to an officer who is an accused in a corruption case under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Saxena was considered front runner for the post of RERA chairperson which had fallen vacant in December last year after retirement of then chairperson Shrikant Baldi.
Sources in the government said that the selection committee for the RERA posts, headed by the HP high court chief justice, and the secretary (urban development), and the secretary (law) are its members, had raised objection to Saxena's candidature in wake of the pending case.
Saxena faces chargesheet in the infamous INX Media scam, in which then Union finance minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti are also named as accused. Saxena, between April 2008 and July 2010, served as the director of the department of economic affairs (DEA), which housed the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) that was responsible for approving Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) proposals. The chargesheet in this case has been filed and is pending before the court.
The 1990 batch IAS officer, Saxena, who is considered 'close' to chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu was appointed chief secretary on January 1, 2023.
Saxena had started as a sub-divisional officer in Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh and went on to become the deputy commissioner of Mandi in Himachal Pradesh, where he gained valuable experience in land revenue management and district administration. He served in the Union ministry of finance between 2008 and 2013. In 2013, he was appointed senior advisor to the executive director of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Manila, the Philippines, a post he went on to serve till 2016.
The latest bill controversy
Saxena had come under criticism for passing on the bill amounting to ₹1.22 lakh of a get-together to the government. He had organised a gathering at Holiday Home of Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) property on March 14. The event was attended by around 75 people, including over 20 IAS officers, their spouses and children, and 22 drivers, who were also served lunch. The HPTDC forwarded the bill of ₹1.22 lakh to the general administration department (GAD) for payment. The copy of the bill was circulated on social media. The Bharatiya Janata Party had raised questions. BJP MLA Bikram Singh in a statement had said: 'It is clear that this is a gross violation of democratic spirit, ethical conduct and administrative decorum. When the state is in debt of ₹1 lakh crore, then such events show that the government and bureaucracy have no concern with the problems of the common people.'
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