File photo of Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung.
The office of the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi issued a clarification amid a major controversy over the appointment of an IAS officer as the Acting Chief Secretary. The Arvind Kejriwal government has accused Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung of violating the Constitution with Shakuntala Gamlin's appointment in what it calls a case of administrative overreach.
Here's the full text of the release from the Lt. Governor's office:In response to the Press Release issued by the Directorate of Information and Publicity, Government of NCT of Delhi, the Lt. Governor's Secretariat issues the following clarification:
Under Article 239 AA of the Constitution of India, the Lt. Governor is the representative of State Authority in Delhi. In appointment of Chief Secretary he is competent to designate the officiating Chief Secretary in consultation with the Hon'ble Chief Minister.
The file for the posting of the officiating Chief Secretary was submitted to the Lt. Governor on the evening of 13 May 2015 and was cleared immediately. He approved the name of Ms Shakuntala Gamlin as against the name proposed by the Hon'ble Chief Minister considering she was senior and has a proven track record. The name proposed by the Hon'ble Chief Minister did not figure in the list of names submitted by the Services Department and the concerned officer has not even been given a posting by the Delhi Government so far.
There was nothing on file submitted to the Lt. Governor that indicated that the government had anything against Ms. Gamlin and the Lt. Governor regrets the name of a senior officer being brought in public domain in such a manner, that too a lady officer and one belonging to the North East.
The Lt. Governor had to order the Services Department to make the appointment since the office of the Chief Secretary cannot be left inordinately vacant and the Hon'ble Chief Minister had not cleared the file that had the Lt. Governor's advise for over 36 hours.
The release is to clarify that the action of the Lt. Governor is within the Constitution of India.