Four days after the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) snubbed the Himachal government for bypassing seniority of two senior IAS officers in appointment of Chief Secretary, the state government on Tuesday posted two aggrieved bureaucrats, Deepak Shanan and Vineet Chawdhry on the posts of Principal Advisors. These new ex-cadre posts have been created just to accommodate the two senior IAS officers.
As per the notification issued by office of Chief Secretary, Vineet Chowdhry has been placed as Principal Advisor in ‘Redressal of Public Grievances’ while Deepak Shanan, who is due to retire on January 31, has been given charge of Principal Advisor for Administrative Reforms and Training. CAT, in its orders on January 20 had directed Himachal Government to place Chaudhary and Shanan, independent of the purview of Chief Secretary. Both the officers had proceeded on leave, after the state government had appointed V C Pharka as Chief Secretary, superseding both last year.
