Remove 43 tainted govt officers from sensitive posts: HC to HP

Himachal Pradesh High Court today asked the state government to shift 43 government officers of "doubtful integrity" from sensitive posts within three weeks.
Taking a stern view of the state government's plea in the court on December to recall/modify its orders to transfer 43 officers of doubtful integrity from sensitive posts, a Division Bench consisting of Justice Kuldip Singh and Justice D C Chaudhary directed the Chief Secretary to file a compliance report in this regard before December 27.
"In case still some officers of doubtful integrity due to unavoidable reasons could not be shifted then the government should spell out such reasons and undertake the exercise in three weeks," the bench observed and listed the matter for hearing on December 27.

In an affidavit filed by Officiating Chief Secretary P Mitra in the High Court, the state government had said "It is always the effort of the government to avoid posting such officers in sensitive posts but since non-sensitive posts are not there in all cadres, it may become unavoidable to post some officers in posts which cannot strictly be termed as non-sensitive".
The HC, hearing a plea of former drug controller Sher Singh Thakur, who appealed for the departmental proceedings against him to be set aside after he was convicted June 2011 for corruption, had sought a list of government functionaries with doubtful integrity.

The court, while hearing the plea of the former drug controller, has widened the scope of the matter to address the basic issue of tainted officers in sensitive posts.