Chandigarh, March 20
The Haryana Assembly today adopted a Bill which will have a direct bearing on the close relatives of at least two Ministers of State.

The Haryana Civil Services (Executive Branch) and Allied Services and Other Services Common/Combined Examination Bill, 2002, which was literally rushed through in the House, seeks to demote at least 11 HCS officers. Two of them are close relatives of two Ministers.

One of them is Mr Virender Dahiya, District Transport Officer, Panipat, who is the son-in-law of the Town and Country Planning Minister, Mr Dhir Pal, who is number three in the State Cabinet. Mr Dhir Pal, considered to be a gentleman even by his political adversaries, had been the President of the Haryana unit of an earlier incarnation of the ruling INLD. He is still fondly called “Pradhan ji” by his admirers.

Another officer who faces demotion, when the Bill will become an Act after the assent of the Governor, is Mr Sandip Singh, SDM, Mahendragarh. He is the younger son of the Minister of State for Education, Mr Bahadur Singh, who himself had been an HCS officer before he joined politics after his superannuation. He is considered to be another gentleman in politics.

The provisions of the Bill, which has become a hot topic of discussion in ruling party circles, will be deemed to have come into force with effect from August 29, 1989, and “shall cover recommendations made by the Public Service Commission after that date”.

The primary purpose of the Bill is to put a bar on appointments beyond the number of advertised posts. It specifically says that notwithstanding anything contrary contained in any judgement of a court of law... “no candidate, from the date of commencement of this Act, shall... have the right to seek appointment to HCS (Executive) and Allied services or other services beyond the number of advertised posts.

Another officer to be affected by the Bill is Mr Dinesh Yadav, SDM, Bahadurgarh, who is a close relative of a former member of the Public Service Commission, Ms Santosh Yadav.

Among the other officers hit by the Bill are Mr Pushpinder Chauhan, Mr Pradeep Godara and Mr Sujan Singh, who have only recently joined the HCS. Another new entrant, Mr Ashok Garg, is awaiting acceptance of his joining report. All these new entrants to the HCS have come to the prestigious service on the strength of orders obtained by them from courts.

One of the officers to be affected by the Bill is Mr Virender Singh Hooda, in whose case the Supreme Court laid down that all those vacancies which had occurred in the HCS upto six months from the date of recommendations by the commission were to be filled from the same selection.

The Bill also specifically says that if a candidate has been appointed or offered appointment “over and above advertised posts for any reason, the services of such candidates shall be dispensed with. However, he shall be entitled to be appointed to the service/post, if any, for which his name was originally recommended by the commission.

It is this clause of the Bill which seeks to demote the 11 HCS officers. Many officers in the allied services may also be affected. Mr Dhir Pal’s son-in-law was originally selected for the post of District Food and Supplies Collector. Since a post was available in the HCS, he was elevated to the civil service on the strength of court orders. Similarly, Mr Sandip Singh was selected Tehsildar. He also got into the HCS because of court orders. Under the new law, they will be reverted back to their original posts.

Thereafter, the Supreme Court held in November, 2000, in the case of Sandip Singh that the vacancies in any particular service till the date of interview at least should be filled in from the very same examination.

In another set of decisions, the Supreme Court held that the appointments beyond the advertised posts could not be made as it deprived the candidates who were not eligible at the time of original advertisement but had acquired eligibility subsequently, of the opportunity to compete for such additional posts which did not form part of the original advertisement.