The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday ordered that adverse remarks made by Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar in the 2016-17 annual performance appraisal report of senior bureaucrat Ashok Khemka be expunged.
Mr. Khemka, who is presently Principal Secretary of the Haryana Science and Technology Department, had approached the court for removal of the adverse remarks in January this year.
The two-judge Bench of Justices Rajeev Sharma and Kuldip Singh, while allowing the petition, said, “The remarks of the accepting officer (Chief Minister) and the grading of 9 given by the accepting authority are hereby set aside and the opinion given by the reviewing authority (Minister) is restored. The grading of 9.92 given by the reviewing authority is also restored and will prevail upon the grading given by the reporting authority (Chief Secretary)."