In response to the Press release issued by the Directorate of Information and Publicity of Delhi Government, the lieutenant Governor’s Secretariat clarified the action of the l-G is within the Constitution of India. In its clarification, Raj Niwas said: “Under Article 239 AA of the Constitution of India, the lieutenant Governor is the representative of State Authority in Delhi. In appointment of Chief Secretary he is competent to designate the officiating Chief Secretary in consultation with the Hon’ble Chief Minister.”
The Raj Niwas said: “The file for the posting of the officiating Chief Secretary was submitted to the lieutenant Governor on the evening of May 13, 2015 and was cleared immediately. He approved the name of Shakuntala Gamlin as against the name proposed by the Chief Minister considering she was senior and has a proven track record. The name proposed by the Chief Minister did not figure in the list of names submitted by the Services Department and the concerned officer has not even been given a posting by the Delhi Government so far.”
The statement said: “There was nothing on file submitted to the lieutenant Governor that indicated that the Government had anything against Gamlin and the lieutenant Governor regrets the name of a senior officer being brought in public domain in such a manner, that too a lady officer and one belonging to the North-East. The l-G had to order the Services Department to make the appointment since the office of the Chief Secretary cannot be left inordinately vacant and the Chief Minister had not cleared the file that had the l-G’s advice for over 36 hours.”