Chandigarh: In a major setback for both Punjab and Haryana govts, Chandigarh administration has rejected deputation panels sent by the two states, citing anomalies and violations of existing service norms.The panels included names of three IAS officers from Punjab and three Haryana Civil Services (HCS) officers, from which the UT administration was expected to select one officer each for deputation. However, after scrutiny, the administration concluded that the names were not in accordance with service rules and wrote to both state govts, directing them to send fresh, practically feasible panels.According to information gathered during examination of the Punjab IAS panel, the UT administration found that one of the IAS officers did not fulfil the required nine years of service in the parent cadre — an essential condition for consideration for deputation. Another officer in the panel had only recently returned to his parent cadre, Punjab, in Nov, after having served on deputation in the Chandigarh administration for an extended period. Officials noted that reconsidering his name for deputation again within such a short time frame was not justified.A third name forwarded by the Punjab govt was that of Rubinderjit Singh Brar, who was recently promoted as IAS officer from PCS. Brar had served the Chandigarh administration for long durations in two phases while he was a PCS officer. After he was promoted to IAS, he was relieved from the UT administration in Nov 2025 and sent back to Punjab. Despite this, the Punjab govt forwarded his name again to Chandigarh for deputation just two months later. Sources in the UT administration pointed out that Brar had not completed the mandatory three-year cooling-off period in his state cadre after returning from deputation. This, they said, made the decision of re-nominating his name “quite shocking.”In the case of the Haryana Civil Services (HCS) officers’ panel, the Chandigarh administration found further issues during scrutiny. Out of the three names sent by the Haryana govt, two officers had already been forwarded to the UPSC for elevation to the IAS. Officials noted that since these officers could be promoted at any time, their names held no practical relevance for consideration for deputation to Chandigarh. According to a senior UT officer, the panel should comprise HCS officers who have sufficient remaining years of service in the HCS cadre to enable them to complete the full deputation tenure if selected.Citing all these discrepancies, the Chandigarh administration formally asked both Punjab and Haryana to send fresh panels that comply fully with service rules and include officers who can realistically serve in the UT on deputation.Box: Panel of IAS officers from PunjabName ——————————————— BatchHarpreet Singh Sudan, IAS ——————— 2013Akash Bansal, IAS ——————————— 2019Rubinderjit Singh Brar, IAS —————— 2022Box: Panel of HCS officers from HaryanaName ——————————————————— Batch1: Naveen Ahuja, HCS ——————————— 20042: Kamalpreet, HCS ————————————— 20113: Manish Kumar Lohan, HCS ——————— 2013Why Chandigarh Rejected the Deputation PanelsPunjab IAS Panel Issues:–One IAS officer did not complete the mandatory 9 years of service in the parent cadre.–Another IAS officer had just returned to Punjab in November after long deputation in Chandigarh; reconsidering him so soon was not justified.–IAS officer Rubinderjit Singh Brar had returned to Punjab only two months earlier and had not completed the required 3-year cooling-off period.Haryana HCS Panel Issues:–Two of the three HCS officers had already been sent to UPSC for IAS elevation, making their inclusion impractical.–Panel lacked officers with adequate remaining HCS service to complete deputation tenure if selected.Overall Reason:Panels from both states did not meet existing service norms and lacked feasible candidates for deputation to Chandigarh.MSID:: 129591057 413 |
