Despite a controversy surrounding Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s decision to swear in members of two commissions, a determined Hooda went ahead on Friday and administered oath to the chairman of Right to Service Commission.
Hooda administered the oath of office to the newly-appointed chairman of the Right to Service Commission (RTSC), SC Chaudhary, who retired as Chief Secretary on Thursday and its member, General (Retd), Virender Singh Tonk.A controversy had erupted earlier over Hooda administering the oath of office to new members of State Information Commission and the Commissioners of Right to Service Commission, with the Opposition terming the move as “unconstitutional”.
After the swearing in, the chief minister defended his decision saying the Commission had not been constituted in a hurry and that all members had been appointed in keeping with the Constitution. “The Governor has authorised me to administer the oath to its members”, Hooda said.
Outgoing Governor Jagannath Pahadia had during his last few days in office cleared the appointment of three members of State Information Commission (SIC) and two of Right to Service Commission (RTSC) and also authorised the chief minister to administer the oath to the five members. Even as BJP nominee Kaptan Singh Solanki took oath as new Governor of Haryana on July 28, the Chief Minister went ahead and administered the oath of office to two as Commissioners of the SIC and three others as the Right to Service Commission.
Opposition parties including INlD and BJP attacked the Hooda government for showing “haste” in making the appointments and pointed out that even Haryana’s Secretary, Administrative Reforms, Pradeep Kasni, has red-flagged the appointments on the grounds that rules had allegedly not been followed.
Hooda hurriedly administered oath of office to two commissioners on the State Information Commission and three commissioners on the RTS Commission at his residence on Sunday, just a couple of hours after new governor Kaptan Singh Solanki took charge. He went ahead with the appointments despite the new governor assuming office and also the appointments being red-flagged by a senior officer. In the past, the oath for constitutional posts, especially to the State Information Commission, was administered by the Governor.
The Hooda government has also been left embarrassed by the objections raised against the appointments by senior bureaucrat Pradeep Kasni, who raised concerns that some of the appointees were holding offices of profit under the Haryana government and also some were not qualified enough for the posts. Kasni also raised questions about the procedure followed in making the appointments.