Indian Express 13.01.2010
MCD promotions case may reach HC
Months after reports confirmed that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) had flouted its recruitment rules to promote some officers; the matter remains in limbo.
While the MCD had ordered an internal inquiry, a conclusive report is yet to be presented.
Now, advocate Atul Grover — a response to his RTI query had highlighted the issue — has decided to move the Delhi High Court.
Mayor Kanwar Sain, meanwhile, said he has already sent a letter followed by a reminder to the municipal commissioner seeking a report on the matter.
“The commissioner has said he is collecting the required information and has asked for some time to present a report,” Sain said.
Advocate Grover, on his part, has also sent reminders to the Central Establishment Department, which handles recruitment and promotions, and to the municipal commissioner.
While it has been established that some officials had misguided the Corporation to get the officers promoted though they did not meet the recruitment criteria, the MCD is sitting on the matter,” Grover said.
“Such conduct will ultimately cause a loss to the Corporation and pose a further burden on the public exchequer. I have decided to file a public interest litigation in the Delhi High Court next week if the MCD does not respond till then,” he added.
Municipal Commissioner K S Mehra said: “The Additional Commissioner is looking into the matter and he has asked for more time as he needs to go through all the rules and regulations to check whether any rule was flouted. I have reminded him to speed up the process.”
Last year, a response to Grover’s RTI query had revealed that five out of 17 serving deputy commissioners (DC) of the MCD were promoted to their current post during the year after merely three years of service, violating the recruitment rules set by the Union Public Service Commission.
Two of these five officials are now in line for promotion to the post of additional commissioner.
The five officials — Deepak Hastir, A K Singh, Kiran Dabral, P R Sethi and S C Kohli — had been working as ad hoc additional deputy commissioners (ADCs) for three years when they were promoted to the post of DCs on an ad hoc basis in July 2006.
The UPSC recruitment rules specify that ADCs can be promoted to the rank of DCs only after they have been part of “regular service” for a period of seven years or more.
The civic agency justified the promotion saying the decision was taken based on “precedents”.
