Acting on the advice of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, the Delhi government on Tuesday cancelled the appointment of 10 advisers to Ministers in the Aam Aadmi Party Cabinet saying the creation of posts and appointments was done illegally.
In an order on Tuesday, the General Administration Department (GAD) said that it had received a clarification from the MHA on April 10 that the 10 posts were not among the list of posts approved for the Chief Minister and Ministers of Delhi.
“Further, no prior approval of the Central government has been taken for creation of the said posts on which these persons have been appointed on co-terminus basis, which is a requirement as per MHA's OM [office memorandum] dated September 3, 1997,” the GAD order said.
In addition, the MHA’s 2015 notification that made services a reserved subject meant that the Central government had the right to create posts and appoint officers.
“Therefore, creation of posts by the Delhi Cabinet for accommodating these appointees is void ab initio, being done by an agency not competent under the law to do so. Since creation of these posts and subsequent appointments are not valid, all previous orders regarding creation of these posts and appointments made against them are hereby cancelled," the order read.
The appointments cancelled included those of Atishi Marlena, an adviser to Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia; Arunoday Prakash, a media adviser to the Deputy Chief Minister; Amar Deep Tiwari, a media adviser to Law Minister Kailash Gahlot; Rajat Tiwari, the aide-de-camp to Power, Public Works Department, Health, Home and Industries Minister Satyendar Jain; and Raghav Chadha, an adviser to the Finance Minister, Mr. Sisodia. The order also cancelled the appointment of Prashant Saxena and Samir Malhotra, consultants in Mr. Jain’s office; Ram Kumar Jha, adviser to the GAD Minister, Mr. Sisodia; Brig. (retd.) Dinkar Adeeb, an officer on special duty to Mr. Jain; and A. K. Singhal, who was appointed in the Health Department.
After the MHA’s notification in 2015, services have not been in control of the elected government. The High Court had upheld the notification, following which the Delhi government moved the Supreme Court. A Constitution Bench of the apex court earlier this year reserved its judgment.
According to a senior official in the government, the timing of the MHA’s “clarification” and the GAD’s order could have an eye on the judgment that could be announced any time.
