Lucknow, Jun 5 The Allahabad High Court on Friday sought responses from the Uttar Pradesh government, the Assembly Secretariat and the speaker on a petition challenging the appointment and continued tenure of Pradeep Kumar Dubey as the principal secretary of the Assembly.
The Lucknow bench of the court passed the order on a writ petition filed by former Assembly information officer Karmesh Pratap Singh through advocates Chet Narayan Singh and Balkeshwar Srivastava.
Dubey (68) has also been made a respondent in the case.
A vacation bench of Justices R S Chauhan and D C Samant directed all respondents to file short or detailed counter-affidavits before the next date of hearing and fixed July 6 for further proceedings. It observed that the matter would be treated as a fresh case on the scheduled date.
During the hearing, the counsel for the Assembly Secretariat and the speaker, Abhinav Trivedi, raised a preliminary objection regarding the maintainability of the petition. He argued that Dubey does not hold a public office of the nature required for the issuance of a writ of quo warranto and does not perform sovereign functions. Time was sought to place a counter-affidavit on record.
Appearing virtually from New Delhi, the petitioner's counsel pressed for an urgent hearing, contending that Dubey is continuing in office and exercising powers without any lawful authority.
After hearing the parties at length, the bench granted time to the respondents to file their replies.
According to the petition, Dubey's appointment in 2009 and subsequent continuation in service were allegedly in violation of statutory rules and constitutional provisions. The petitioner has claimed that the Assembly Secretariat (Recruitment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 1974, prescribe an upper age limit of 52 years for appointment to the relevant category of posts, while Dubey had already crossed that age.
The plea has said Dubey took voluntary retirement from the Uttar Pradesh Judicial Service on January 13, 2009, and was appointed as the principal secretary (parliamentary affairs) the very same day. Six days later, on January 19, 2009, he was given charge of the post of principal secretary in the Assembly Secretariat, the plea has claimed.
The petitioner has further alleged that the appointment process was carried out without advertisement, competitive selection, consultation with the Public Service Commission or approvals purportedly required under constitutional provisions.
The petition has also questioned subsequent amendments to service rules, alleged extensions of service and Dubey's continuation beyond the age of 65 years.
It seeks the issuance of a writ of quo warranto, directing Dubey to disclose the authority under which he continues to hold the office.
