Delhi home secretary may be changed again to end impasse

NEW DELHI: The post of Delhi's home secretary is yet again in news. This time the buzz is over the possibility of a new officer being brought in to end the impasse over two home secretaries — Dharampal, who is reporting to LG Najeeb Jung and Rajendra Kumar, who has been given the charge by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

The names under consideration for the post include that of principal secretary (finance) SN Sahai, urban development secretary Chetan B Sanghi, among others. Since both the LG and CM have failed to bridge the gap over Dharampal and Rajendra Kumar, the officer who seems to be getting some sort of consensus is SN Sahai. A proposal for a fresh incumbent will require approval of the MHA through the LG.

The course that MHA will take will now need to be seen. The LG has all along stood rock solid behind Dharampal's candidature and the MHA too has been batting for his case after Kejriwal removed him for notifying the appointment of joint commissioner of police MK Meena as ACB chief.

Sources said the stalemate has taken a toll on work. With the high court has scheduled to hear the matter on ACB and other issues related to powers of the state and LG in connection with appointments and work allocation, attempts have been made to bridge the gap by putting up a show of some level of consensus.

If the home secretary in indeed transferred, this will be the fourth one in Delhi since the new government took charge. Senior IAS officer Arvind Ray was transferred and Dharampal was brought in. After the controversy over Dharampal, the AAP government gave additional charge to principal secretary to CM Rajendra Kumar.

Last month, the Union home ministry had reiterated its stand on Delhi's home secretary to chief secretary KK Sharma.