Govt suspends principal secretary Rajendra Kumar

NEW DELHI: The Delhi government on Wednesday suspended Rajendra Kumar, principal secretary to the chief minister, as he has been under arrest for over 48 hours.

NEW DELHI: The Delhi government on Wednesday suspended Rajendra Kumar, principal secretary to the chief minister, as he has been under arrest for over 48 hours.

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According to rules, a civil servant who is ‘detained in official custody’ for over 48 hours has to be suspended. Kumar was arrested on Monday evening. He was sent to CBI custody on Tuesday for five days.

The order of his suspension, signed by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, states, “...the Special Court, CBI has allowed remand of Shri Rajendra Kumar to CBI for 5 days and as per ... Rule 3 of the All India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules 1969, a member of the service who is detained in official custody whether on a criminal charge or otherwise for a period longer than forty eight hours, shall be deemed to have been suspended by the government concerned under this rule.”

Kumar cannot travel out of Delhi without permission during his suspension period.

“During the period the suspension order remains in force, the headquarters of Shri Rajendra Kumar... shall be at Delhi and... Kumar shall not leave the headquarters without obtaining prior permission of deputy chief minister,” the order states.

Kumar was arrested by the CBI for giving contracts to private companies without tenders between 2007 and 2014.