Despite Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)’s clear instruction to relinquish Delhi Home Secretary post, senior IAS officer Rajender Kumar, who is also Secretary to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, continued to hold the post on Friday. Taking a serious note of defiance, the MHA may initiate disciplinary action against Kumar. A show-cause notice is likely to be issued to Kumar for his failure to comply with MHA’s direction. Chief Secretary KK Sharma had directed Kumar to adhere to the MHA directive and send a compliance report to him by Thursday evening.
According to sources, Kumar has filed his reply to Sharma but he did not rescind the orders pertaining to Dharampal and his own appointment as Home Secretary. Total confusion prevailed in the Delhi Government’s bureaucracy on Friday with Delhi Home Minister Satyendra Jain reiterating that Kumar was the officer heading the Home Department.
The AAP Government had appointed Kumar as the Home Secretary after senior IAS officer Dharampal had issued orders for the appointment of Mukeskh Kumar Meena as the head of the Anti- Corruption Branch. Top sources said a show cause notice will be served to Kumar for disobeying the MHA order to relieve himself from the post of Secretary (Home), which he took over following his own order and directions from the AAP Government.
The MHA on Thursday had revoked the decision of Delhi Government to repatriate its Principal Secretary (Home) and (land and Buildings) Dharampal to the Centre terming it “ab initio void” and asserted that powers to transfer AGMUT cadre officers rests only with the Centre. Even, lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung had issued orders that Dharampal continued to be the Home Secretary of the city administration. The Ministry has also cancelled the appointment of Ashwani Kumar, AGMUT-cadre IAS of 1992 batch, as new Secretary (land and Building) in the Delhi Government.
Saying that Chief Minister does not have powers to transfer secretaries of the Home and land departments as power to transfer IAS officers solely rests with the Centre, Chief Secretary KK Sharma had directed Kumar to comply with the MHA’s order and immediately send him a compliance report. This was the first occasion when the Chief Secretary had taken a firm stand on the controversy surrounding the removal of Dharampal from the post of Principal Secretary (Home).