Delhi ministers' aides ousted due to procedural lapses in appointments: MHA

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The appointments of nine advisors to the Delhi government ministers were cancelled because the legal opinion suggested proper procedures had not been followed in the whole exercise, the Union Home Ministry officials said today.

There were other "lapses" too in the exercise, they added.

Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal had sent a reference on appointments of the nine advisors in the Delhi government a few months ago and sought the Home Ministry's direction on the issue.

"After receiving the reference from the LG, the Home Ministry had sought the legal opinion which said proper procedure had not been followed and there were lapses while appointing the advisors," an official said.

Following this, the directive has been issued for the cancellation of the appointments.

Another official said the Delhi government appointed the nine advisors without creating the posts.

The nine advisors whose appointments were cancelled included Amardeep Tiwari (media advisor to the law minister), Arunodya Prakash (media advisor to the deputy chief minister), Raghav Chadha (advisor to the finance minister), Atishi Marlena (advisor to the deputy chief minister).

After cancellation of the appointments, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had said the Narendra Modi government's order was a "conspiracy to derail" the "education revolution" in Delhi.