Kolkata, Jan 2 (IANS): Leader of the opposition in West Bengal assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, on Tuesday claimed that he might move to the Calcutta High Court against the appointment of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Nandini Chakraborty as the new state home secretary.
He said that Chakraborty has been appointed illegally superseding several other IAS officers of the West Bengal cadre who are senior to her.
The Leader of the Opposition has linked Chakraborty’s appointment as the state home secretary with the appointment of Rajeev Kumar as the new acting director general of the state police.
According to Adhikari, Chakraborty’s appointment has been done to give Kumar a free run.
“To ensure that the illegally appointed acting DGP is allowed a free run, the state has now illegally posted a junior IAS officer; Nandini Chakraborty, as principal secretary to the state home department superseding 13 additional chief secretaries and another five principal secretaries who are senior to her,” he claimed.
The Leader of the Opposition has also pointed out that under the IAS (Fixation of Cadre Strength) Third Amendment Regulations, 2017 the state home secretary, i.e., the head of home and hill affairs department has to be an officer of Level 17, i.e., an additional chief secretary. “This makes the appointment of Nandini Chakraborty totally illegal,” Adhikari pointed out.
He has also questioned Kumar’s earlier assignment as the principal secretary to the state Information Technology department, a chair which is supposed to be allocated to any IAS officer and not an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer.
“I have also understood that similarly, there are a large number of illegal postings being done by the Mamata Govt, including that of Rajeev Kumar as Principal Secretary; IT Department, which is a post that should be held by an IAS Officer. Imagine posting an IAS officer as DGP or the CP; Kolkata Police,” Adhikari claimed.
He also said that while he will be moving the appropriate forum including the court against the appointment of Chakraborty, he has also requested the IAS Association to protest against such illegal appointments.