Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj waited till 9.30 pm for key meet after top AAP govt official stood him up

New Delhi: At a key meet of the Civil Services Board (CSB) to evaluate the recent directions of the Delhi government, Services minister Saurabh Bharadwaj remained waiting till late evening as the chief secretary did not turn up, according to government officials.

Delhi Services Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj waited for the meeting till about 9.30 pm, but it could not take place since Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar was busy throughout the day, and did not show up.

This was the first meeting of the board after the landmark Supreme Court verdict that ruled in favour of the AAP government in a power tussle with the Centre over the control and posting of bureaucrats in national capital Delhi.

Two other members of the board, also waited for the meeting along with Bharadwaj till Tuesday evening.

The Supreme Court on Thursday had ruled that the Delhi government has legislative and executive powers over administration of services and only “public order, police and land” are excluded from its jurisdiction.

In a democratic form of governance, the power of administration must rest on the elected arm and the Lieutenant Governor is bound by its decision, said the bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud. Hours after the top court’s verdict, IAS officer Ashish More was removed as the secretary of the services department.

Bharadwaj said More, after being asked to make way for his replacement on Thursday, “unexpectedly left the Secretariat” and switched off his phone. He was issued a show cause notice for not “complying with the Supreme Court order”. Later, the Delhi government in an official statement, said that More had “resurfaced” and agreed to comply with the SC order.

Besides More’s removal, Saurabh Bharadwaj had ordered that he be replaced by IAS A K Singh. Both orders are yet to be implemented.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had earlier announced after the verdict that there would be transfers to remove corrupt officers and bring in honest, hard-working people. “Our work will now resume at 10 times the speed,” Kejriwal had said, promising a “lean, thin, responsive, passionate and accountable” government.

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,
India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.