Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday rejected the appointment of Dilraj Kaur as member secretary of the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW).
Ms. Kaur, who is also Secretary, Women and Child Development, was appointed to the post by Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung earlier this week after her predecessor Alka Dewan’s tenure came to an end.
Expressing his disapproval, Mr. Kejriwal also wrote to the L-G to appoint P.P. Dhal as member secretary, DCW, whose name he had nominated for the post in August this year.
Pending file
As per an official statement from DCW, the file regarding appointment of Mr. Dhal was pending before L-G office for several months and was returned to the Chief Minister on Monday.
"The L-G declined to approve the appointment on the grounds that a number of complaints about irregular appointments to the Commission were made and the ACB investigation was under way. The L-G also stated that a special audit of the work done is going on.”
In the meantime, Mr. Kejriwal has directed Mr. Dhal to hold the charge of officiating member secretary, DCW.
DCW chief Swati Maliwal and Mr. Kejriwal had vehemently opposed the appointment of Ms. Kaur. The Chief Minister went to the extent of likening Mr. Jung to Hitler.
Ms. Maliwal had called Ms. Kaur's appointment “unconstitutional and illegal”.
‘Unprecedented’
As per an official statement from DCW, Ms. Kaur’s appointment as member secretary, DCW, without the Delhi government’s consent is “unprecedented”.
"The Chief Minister has directed the chief secretary and chairperson, DCW, to not implement the decision of the L-G giving additional part-time charge to WCD secretary (Ms. Kaur) and stated that until the appointment of Mr. Dhal is approved by the L-G, he will continue to be officiating member secretary of the Commission," read the statement.
