396 ad hoc postings to Uttarakhand assembly secretariat from 2001 to 2022 illegal: Expert Panel | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
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396 ad hoc postings to Uttarakhand assembly secretariat from 2001 to 2022 illegal: Expert Panel

Jan 30, 2023 12:14 AM IST

All 396 ad hoc appointments to Uttarakhand assembly secretariat made from 2001 to 2022 are “unconstitutional”, an expert committee has found, but only 228 such appointments made since 2016 have been cancelled so far

Dehradun: All 396 ad hoc appointments to Uttarakhand assembly secretariat made from 2001 to 2022 are “unconstitutional”, an expert committee has found, but only 228 such appointments made since 2016 have been cancelled so far.

396 ad hoc postings to Uttarakhand assembly secretariat from 2001 to 2022 illegal: Expert Panel
396 ad hoc postings to Uttarakhand assembly secretariat from 2001 to 2022 illegal: Expert Panel

The report submitted by the three-member expert committee said Article 14 (equality before law) and Article 16 (equality of opportunity in public employment) of the Constitution were violated by not providing equal opportunity to all eligible and interested candidates for ad-hoc appointments made to the assembly secretariat from 2001 to 2022.

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The three-member committee of retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers led by Dilip Kumar Kotia and also comprising Surendra Singh Rawat and Avnendra Singh Nayal was constituted by Uttarakhand assembly speaker Ritu Khanduri Bhushan last year. It came amid allegations and counter-allegations by the two main political parties — the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress — over these appointments.

The committee had submitted its 217-page report last year, following which the speaker in September cancelled 228 ad hoc appointments made since 2016. Another 168 appointments from 2001 to 2015 have also been deemed “unconstitutional” in the expert panel’s report, which was recently uploaded on the assembly’s website.

“The ad hoc recruitments made for Vidhan Sabha secretariat between 2001 and 2022 did not give equal opportunities to all qualifying and interested candidates, violating Article 14 and Article 16 of the Constitution,” the report stated.

“All these appointments are in violation of the provisions of the rules and regulations for ad hoc appointments in the Vidhan Sabha secretariat,” the report stated.

“The provisions which have been shown in the report include not constituting a selection committee, not issuing advertisements or public notice for ad-hoc appointment nor obtaining names from employment exchanges, granting appointment on individual applications without seeking application forms,” it said.

“It was brought to the notice of the Vidhan Sabha secretariat that 168 ad hoc appointments made between 2001 and 2015 were regularised in 2013 and 2016 under the Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha Secretariat Service (Recruitment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 2011,” the report stated. “The committee examined the records pertaining to the regularisation of these appointments. Though the committee found that they have been regularised under the provisions of Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha Secretariat Service (Recruitment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 2011 but suggested that it would be appropriate to examine the regularisation of these appointments as per Supreme Court’s 2006 verdict in State of Karnataka vs Umadevi case, which laid down the framework for dealing with irregular or contractual appointments by the state. It would be suitable to take action in this regard thereafter.”

On the basis of the report, the assembly speaker also announced the suspension of Vidhan Sabha secretary Mukesh Kumar Singhal for his “suspicious” role in appointments and ordered a probe against him. He was subsequently demoted by two ranks from secretary to joint secretary.

Kumar’s role in direct recruitment of 32 posts in the Vidhan Sabha in March last year had come under the scanner for selecting the Lucknow-based tainted tech firm RMS Techno Solutions Private Limited, whose owner and employees allegedly leaked the UKSSSC question papers.

The speaker did not respond to calls by HT despite repeated attempts.

Over 100 sacked employees of the assembly had knocked on the doors of the high court, which had put a stay on the cancellation of their appointment. However, a division bench of the court in November set aside the order of the single bench. In December, the Supreme Court also dismissed an SLP on the reinstatement of the sacked employees.

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