Days after UPSC refused elevation to IAS, 2 ‘charge-sheeted' HCS officers get plum posts in Haryana

Vatsal Vashisht, previously the Secretary of the Haryana Right to Service Commission, was named the Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC)-cum-District Citizen Resources Information Officer in Gurugram.
The decision has raised eyebrows as it comes just days after the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) returned the state government's promotion recommendations for these officers on 22 May, following advice from the Solicitor General.
New Delhi: In a major administrative reshuffle announced late Monday night, the Haryana government has appointed two charge-sheeted Haryana Civil Service (HCS) officers as additional deputy commissioners (ADCs), administrative positions generally held by IAS officers.
Jag Niwas, formerly the CEO of Zila Parishad and District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), was appointed ADC-cum-District Citizen Resources Information Officer in Jhajjar.
Vashisht and Niwas are among eight HCS officers charge-sheeted in 2023 for alleged irregularities in their 2002 appointments.
A senior officer in the Haryana government, however, said there was no irregularity in the posting of HCS officers as additional deputy commissioners. 'Besides them, one officer of the 2003 batch and another of the 2004 batch have also been appointed ADCs. Of the 22 districts of Haryana, seven (including four posted today) are HCS officers,' the officer said.
The government, according to the officer, was in the process of sending a reply to the UPSC's communication.
The latest appointments, detailed in an official order issued by Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi, were among the transfers and postings of 41 IAS and HCS officers across various administrative roles in the state.
Dr. Sarita Malik, another officer implicated in the 2023 charge sheet, has been transferred from her role as Special Secretary to the Government in the Public Health Engineering Department to the Secretary of the Haryana Right to Service Commission, replacing Vashisht.
On 22 May, the UPSC rejected the Haryana government's proposal to promote 27 HCS officers, including Vatsal Vashisht, Jag Niwas, and Dr. Sarita Malik, to the IAS cadre.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) had filed a charge sheet in July 2023, naming the eight officers—Veena Hooda, Surender Singh, Jagdeep Dhanda, Dr. Sarita Malik, Kamlesh Bhadoo, Kuldhir Singh, Vatsal Vashisht and Jag Niwas—along with former Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC) functionaries, accusing them of irregularities that favoured ineligible candidates.
Other notable transfers include 2022 IAS batch Ankit Kumar Chouksey from Badshahpur to Jhajjar as Sub Divisional Officer (Civil), and 2022 IAS batch Shashvat Sangwan from Naraingarh to Barara.
Among HCS officers, Vivek Padam Singh (1997 batch) has been appointed Controller of Printing & Stationery and Special Secretary, while Sushil Kumar (2003 batch) transitions from Kaithal to Mahendragarh as ADC, and Satbir Singh (2004 batch) has been posted as ADC at Faridabad.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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