Haryana to ‘push again' for promotion of 27 HCS officers to IAS after UPSC returns file
Days after the Union Public Service Commission returned a Haryana government proposal for the elevation of 27 Haryana Civil Services (HCS) officers to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers, senior officials have indicated that 'the state government will give it another shot, factoring in concerns raised by the Commission'.
The state government sent the proposal to the UPSC in March, seeking promotions to 27 HCS officers of 2002, 2003 and 2004 batches to the IAS officers, but the Commission returned the proposal, pointing out 'pending chargesheets' against eight of the 2002 batch HCS officers, Haryana government sources said.
In 2023, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) filed a chargesheet in a Hisar court, alleging irregularities in the recruitment of the 2002 batch of HCS officers, impeding the promotion of several HCS officers for the past few years.
However, on Monday, a Haryana government officer said, 'The UPSC has only returned the proposal, but has not taken a final call on it.'
Indicating that 'the proposal will be sent again' to the UPSC, the officer said, 'The matter is under consideration to put up a fresh proposal before the chief minister for his approval.'
The state has three vacancies for the 2020 batch, four for the 2021 batch, eight for the 2022 batch, 10 for the 2023 batch and two for the 2024 batch.
Following a legal opinion, the state government conveyed to the UPSC in March that 'the term chargesheet cannot be construed as the final form/report submitted under section 173 of the CrPC'.
After examining the matter, the UPSC decided to take a legal opinion from the Department of Legal Affairs, and subsequently, the Solicitor General gave his opinion to the commission on May 11.
The Solicitor General did not agree with the state government's opinion that a 'chargesheet cannot be constructed as the final report under section 173 C-PC'.
'All the cases where the report under section 173 CrPC is filed, it would be treated as filing of the chargesheets as stipulated in 'Regulations 5 (5) of the lAS Regulations, 1955,' the Solicitor General opined.
The Solicitor General also mentioned, 'Section 173 is the stage at which the investigation is complete subject to further investigation which can be conducted under section 173(8) of the code… the term 'chargesheet' is not defined in the CrPc, it is used as a legally acceptable expression for the report under section 173 of the code. In some states, it is also called 'challan'. It is this chargesheet which is contemplated in Regulation 5/5/ of the lAS Regulation, 1955. This is clear from the judgment of the Supreme Court in Gurpreet Singh Bhullar & another versus Union Of India & Others. There are other judicial pronouncements on the subject, also. However, with the issue being well settled, it may not be necessary to multiply the citations.'
Given the SG's opinion, the UPSC requested the state government to examine the case and furnish the amended relevant documents so that the proposals for the select lists of 2020 to 2024 are processed further.
Another Haryana government officer said, 'The Solicitor General's opinion will be taken into account while drafting a fresh proposal for the promotion of HCS officers.'
Earlier, opposing the proposal for the promotion of 2002-batch HCS officers, Congress leader and former minister Karan Singh Dalal in March had sent a letter to the President, seeking her intervention into the matter.
In December 2023 too, he had sent a letter to the UPSC chairman, 'opposing' the proposal for the promotion of these officers, adding that the ACB had found the selection of HCS officers of the 2002 batch to be 'tainted'. 'They were also chargesheeted for several offences, including forgery, cheating and corruption. They have been summoned by a Hisar court and are also facing trial,' Dalal had stated.
A former MLA from Palwal, Dalal had earlier challenged the 2002 selection process in the Punjab and Haryana High Court when 86 candidates were selected by the HPSC during the Indian National Lok Dal government's tenure.
The court had found irregularities in the selection process of 38 candidates and ordered the state Vigilance Bureau (now ACB) to examine the entire case. Dalal had also taken up the issue to the Supreme Court.
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