Row erupts over commissioners oath, Har govt says all fine

After a controversy erupted over Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda administering the oath of office to new information commissioners, the state government said the appointments were "legal".
The Opposition raked up the issue, terming the step as "unconstitutional", claiming that Hooda had administered the oath barely an hour after the new Governor had taken charge. The opposition had also alleged that the rules and procedures in making the appointments were not followed.
Even as BJP nominee Kaptan Singh Solanki took oath as new Governor of Haryana yesterday, the Chief Minister went ahead and administered the oath of office to two as Commissioners of the SIC and three others as the Right to Service Commission.

Meanwhile, senior IAS officer Ashok Khemka too appeared to take a dig at the appointments in his tweet today.
"Lure for post retirement sinecures harming institutions," Khemka said in a tweet, but did not detail the background or context of it.
"New agencies are created to dangle crumbs before pliable bureaucrats and judges," he said in his tweet.

However, Chief Secretary, S C Choudhary told reporters, that all the appointments of State Information Commissioners and Commissioners of Haryana Right to Service Commission made by the state Government "are legal and no irregularity has been committed in the issue".
Reacting to the media reports concerning observations raised by Haryana's Secretary, Administrative Reforms, Pradeep Kasni, on appointments, the chief secretary said all members have fulfilled the requisite qualifications and not a single member was holding any post of profit during the appointment.

He made it clear that all officers who have been administered oath of office were either retirees or they have taken voluntary retirement prior to joining their new assignment.
"Resignation of all members have been accepted before their joining new assignment," Choudhary said.
In the past, the Information Commissioners were administered the oath by the Governor.
Opposition parties including INLD and BJP attacked the Hooda government for showing "haste" in making the appointments and pointed out that even Pradeep Kasni, has red-flagged the appointments on the grounds that rules had allegedly not been followed.