The ongoing turf war between lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung and the AAP Government has escalated further with Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel turning down Raj Niwas orders to transfer Assembly Secretary Prasanna Kumar Suryadevara to the All India Radio. The services department, on the directions of Raj Niwas, had repatriated Suryadevara to his parent cadre with immediate effect.
The Speaker's Office has now directed all the officers to ignore any such order related to the Assembly Secretary's transfer.
"All the officers and staff of this Secretariat of the legislative Assembly are hereby directed by Hon'ble Speaker to ignore orders issued/ to be issued by anyone other than Hon'ble Speaker regarding the position of Secretary as Hon'ble Speaker is of the considered view that it is constitutionally his sole prerogative," the order issued by Office of the Delhi Assembly Speaker on August 30.
Sources in Raj Niwas said that in a stern communication to Jung, the Speaker said he has directed Suryadevara to continue as the Assembly Secretary till July 16, 2018. "Suryadevara's transfer orders had been issued without any communication to his Constitutional office. As you are fully aware, the position of the Secretary is very crucial for any legislature. He not only assists the Speaker and the Assembly but also is the Secretary to the Committees of the legislature which keep functioning throughout the year, even when the House is not in Session," Goel has reportedly said in his communiqué to Jung.
"With due respect to the office of the Hon'ble lt. Governor, I take the issuance of the impugned order referred to in Para 1 as an affront to the independence and the Constitutionally-guaranteed power of the legislature. As such, I have directed Prasanna Kumar Suryadevara to continue to discharge his duties as secretary, legislative Assembly, who is holding an ex-cadre position which is purely under the control of the Speaker, legislative Assembly. This decision of mine is solely aimed at upholding the Constitution in letter and spirit," the communiqué said.
The letter said that Suryadevara's deputation had already elapsed on July 16 and requested that the officer be relieved and repatriated immediately with the directions to report to the Directorate General of the AIR. On June 21, the Assembly Speaker had requested the Delhi Government that Suryadevara be posted on a permanent basis as the Vidhan Sabha Secretary. Deputy Secretary (Services) Anupama Chakravorty had conveyed the Speaker's request to the AIR DG.
According to the letter, the Assembly had recently resolved to form Special Inquiry Committees to look into the alleged irregularities in various matters, including those related to restoration of duly cancelled licenses to ration shops and CNG fitness testing. He said that the committees had been constituted by unanimous resolution of the House and he had no option but to reiterate the fact that the matters under examination include charges of irregularities levelled against the l-G himself.
Suryadevara had been appointed as the Assembly Secretary for a period of one year on July 17 last year. But deputy secretary (services) Anupama Chakravorty, AIR's Deputy Director (Administration) V Sripathi had recently written a letter stating there has been no recruitment for years in the AIR which had led to acute shortage of the staff in all cadres, particularly in the cadre of the Newsreader-cum-Translator. The letter said that since the AIR was in dire need of experienced professionals like Suryadevara, the directorate has expressed its inability to concur with the desire of the Speaker for the absorption of the said officer.