The Punjab and Haryana High Court has ruled that retired IAS officer Ashok Khemka should be treated as an empanelled additional secretary for future assignments.
This decision followed Khemka's plea, which argued that he was not empanelled as an additional secretary or secretary to the government of India. He contended that the requirement of having worked on central deputation for a minimum period of three years at the level of deputy secretary and above was not met.
However, Khemka pointed out that several IAS officers with ‘nil' experience on deputation at the rank of deputy secretary and above were empanelled as additional secretaries by granting them relaxation.
A 1991 batch IAS officer Khemka, who had seen 57 postings in his 34-year long service, challenged three orders passed by the Central Administrative Tribunal in July 2023. These orders rejected his claim that he should be treated as having been empanelled at the level of additional secretary or secretary to the government of India prior to his retirement.
The bench of justices Harsimran Singh Sethi and Deepak Manchanda allowed Khemka's plea. They held that the benefit of parity should be granted to the petitioner with other similarly situated officers to prevent any prejudice.
The division bench, however, stated that since the petitioner had already retired and the empanelment was only for the purpose of bringing an IAS officer on deputation with the government of India, no such benefit could be granted to him at this time. However, preference would be given to officers who had been empanelled as additional secretaries or secretaries with the government of India for future assignments.
The petitioner would be treated on equal footing with such officers and would be considered empanelled as an additional secretary or secretary for such consideration for future assignments only.
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