Principal Secretary (Home) of Delhi Government SN Sahai has written a strongly worded letter to the Minister in-charge Satyendra Jain for meddling in the day-to-day affairs of the Home Department.
Sahai has said the matters which are to be disposed by the Minister other than those delegated are to be processed through the Secretary, who is the administrative head of the department. Also, Sahai has reminded Jain that the decisions and orders that he has issued off late do not fall under his jurisdiction. The Minister in-charge is not the administrative head of the Home Department as the powers to govern and instruct vest with lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung.
The letter, written after the Minister had stripped Sahai of certain powers and suspended special secretaries Yashpal Garg and Subhash Chandra, has also been marked to the l-G and Chief Secretary KK Sharma.
The differences between Jain with Sahai erupted after the officer refused to suspend two of his special secretaries, saying that the Minister had no such powers to act against his sub-ordinates.
In a letter to the Home Minister, Sahai has stated that when a civil servant takes a decision, he does not do it as a delegate to his Minister. “He does it on behalf of the Government. It is always open to a Minister to call for any file in his ministry and pass orders.”
Sahai said the Minister through his order had created four sections, each under a deputy secretary in the Home Department and also listed subjects which are to be submitted to him directly by these officers and those which are to be disposed of by the Principal Secretary (Home).
He said, “Such orders are normally issued by the Secretary of the department because the power to allocate work within the department is within the province of the secretary.”
The letter said, “ Besides role and power conferred by the Allocation of Business Rules and TBR to the Secretary, there are matters which are to be disposed by the Secretary because of powers conferred by statues, notifications and delegations by MHA or the l-G. The order of 8th January, 2016 was erroneous because it attempted to denude the Secretary of his statutory functions.”
The letter emphasised that the Minister in-charge was not the administrative head of the department. It said, “Executive functions of the Governments are carried out by the permanent bureaucracy selected and appointed through well laid down procedures. After disposal of some proposals and matters by the Minister in-charge, authentication of the decisions/ documents under the Govt. of NCT of Delhi (Authentication of orders and other instruments) Rules 1992 is done by the permanent bureaucracy. “
Quoting Rule 4 of the Government of NCT of Delhi (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1993, Sahai said it clearly stipulates that the Secretary is the official head of the Department. The letter said, “According to Manual of Officer Procedure also, a Secretary is the administrative head of the Ministry or Department. He is principal adviser of the Minister on all matters of~ policy and the administration within his/her Ministry/Department, and his responsibility is complete and undivided. Thus, the position of the Secretary is imminent in the scheme of governance and rules, and cannot be reduced or annulled by an office order.”
The letter said, “It is re-emphasised that according to Allocation of Business Rules, the Secretary of the department does not exercise any delegated power but works as a limb of the Government in discharging day-to-day functions in respect of the department allocated to it. The powers to take decisions in the matters of the department are inherent in the Secretary of the department by virtue of Rule 4 of Allocation of Business Rules, being the head of the department.”