The Allahabad High Court today asked the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission and the state government to file counter affidavits on a Public Interest Litigation challenging the appointment of its officiating Chairman and one of its members. A division bench, comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice Yashwant Varma, passed the order on a PIL filed by one Dr Dharmendra of Gorakhpur who has challenged the appointment of Sunil Kumar Jain as an officiating Chairman of the UPPSC and that of Farhan Ali as a member.
The petitioner has alleged that Jain has been appointed to the post despite being named in a criminal case while Ali's appointment was "arbitrary".
Significantly, Jain was appointed to the post in November, 2015 "for a period of three months or till the appointment of a full-time Chairman, whichever is earlier".
His appointment followed the removal of the previous Chairman Anil Kumar Yadav who was sacked following a court order dated October 14, 2015.
