Speaker Ram Niwas Goel today appointed Delhi Assembly Joint Secretary C Velmurugan as the officiating secretary of the Assembly.
The order came two days after Leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta questioned former secretary Prasanna Kumar Suryadevara's "mysterious absence" from the office.
According to officials in the Assembly secretariat, Suryadevara had not been coming to office for the last 10 days.
"Consequent upon the relieving of Prasanna Kumar Suryadevara from the post of Secretary, Delhi Legislative Assembly, Speaker is pleased to appoint C Velmurugan, joint secretary, as officiating secretary with immediate effect and empowers him to perform all the functions of secretary Delhi Assembly till further orders," the appointment order said.
According to the order, Suryadevara has been relieved from his post. However, his new assignment is yet to be ascertained as the officers are tight lipped about the issue.
On Tuesday, Gupta had said that Suryadevara's absence from the office was surprising at a time when the Budget session is slated to start from Friday.
"The Assembly and the government have to do elaborate preparations for the budget session and the Assembly secretary plays an important role in it," Gupta had said in a statement.
Suryadevara, a Newsreader-cum-Translator (Telugu) cadre officer of All India Ratio was appointed to the post of Delhi Assembly Secretary in July 2015 for a period of one year.
His continuation in the post had become a bone of contention among the Centre, the Assembly Speaker, Prasar Bharti and the then lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung.
In August 2016, then lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung had ordered to repatriate the Delhi Assembly Secretary after a request from the Prasar Bharti. Speaker Ram Niwas Goel, however, had refused to relieve the officer.
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