HCS selections: Haryana to sack officers declared untainted five years ago

Twenty-three candidates were appointed after Haryana vigilance bureau’s clean chit; they have been issued show-cause notices on the grounds that entire process of selection was vitiated

A fresh round of protracted litigation is in the offing with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in Haryana deciding to dispense with the services of 23 Haryana Civil Services (HCS) and allied services officers it had appointed in 2016. The officers, including 19 HCS and two Haryana Police Services (HPS) officers, have been issued show-cause notices by the state government on the grounds that the entire process of selecting them was vitiated.

Haryana deciding to dispense with the services of 23 Haryana Civil Services (HCS) and allied services officers it had appointed in 2016. (HPSC website)

The state government’s decision to dispense with the services of these officers comes in the wake of petitions filed by candidates who were not given appointments. The decision to sack these officers will be conveyed to the high court, officials said. The HCS officers have been confirmed in service and granted senior scale.

Two vigilance probes

These candidates were recommended for appointment by the Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC) in 2004 during the Indian National Lok Dal’s rule. However, following a change of guard, they were not offered appointment by the Congress government as a cloud was cast on these selections and the matter was investigated by the state vigilance bureau (VB).

Following two separate vigilance investigations, which segregated the untainted candidates, 38 HCS and allied services officers were offered appointment by the state government in 2016. In fact, a division bench of the Punjab and Haryana high court, in a February 27, 2016 order, said that the state government has admitted that after receipt of the vigilance report, which does not allege any wrongdoing on the part of the appellants and other non-tainted candidates, it had not taken any independent decision.

Subsequently, a committee of senior officers set up to take a decision requested that the matter be once again examined by the VB. The then chief secretary wrote it needs to be decided who is tainted and who is untainted in the HCS and other allied service examination, 2004. This can be best done by the VB which has thoroughly investigated records. Thus, the government has directed the VB director to do the needful and set up a committee under his chairmanship for the purpose, a note said.

‘Untainted segregated from tainted’

Officials said the VB thereafter submitted a fresh report to the government. The committee after examining the entire record, including the recommendations made by the VB, took a conscious decision and segregated the tainted from the non-tainted candidates and forwarded its report to the government. With reference to a high court (HC) order of August 12, 2015 by which the HC sought to know whether any decision was taken by the authorities based upon the inquiry submitted by the VB or any other material that the entire selection stands vitiated, the then chief secretary wrote to the advocate general that keeping in view the VB inquiry report an in-principle decision has been taken to offer appointment to the candidates found innocent in this report.

Fresh move to sack officers

The latest move to dispense with the service of these officers is set to trigger a fresh round of litigation. While the show-cause notice issued to the 23 officers does not specifically mention the grounds of their ouster, officials said that it is based on the affidavit of a DSP, vigilance bureau, Shareef Singh, who during a fresh examination found discrepancies in the answer sheets of these candidates.

The show-cause notice said that the entire matter has been duly considered by the state government and it has arrived at a considered conclusion that the entire process of selection of 102 candidates by the HPSC was vitiated and suffers from serious irregularities. “Therefore, it would be discriminatory to bifurcate the selection of some of the candidates as untainted,” it said.

SC ruling on segregating the untainted

The Supreme Court in a May 2014 order had held that once it is found that segregating tainted from non-tainted is possible and is achieved also, the other conclusion (that the entire selection process was vitiated) is incompatible with the first one. The apex court was answering a question that once the non-tainted persons are segregated from tainted ones, would it still be justified to quash the entire selection, even when non-tainted made into the service because of their merit.