The HP High Court yesterday imposed a cost of Rs 5 lakh on the state government over the non-appointment of Chairperson and members of the Himachal Pradesh Real Estate Regulatory Authority (HPRERA).
While passing this order, a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice GS Sandhawalia and Justice Ranjan Sharma further observed “that the sequence of events would go on to show that the state government is dragging its feet for not notifying the appointment of Chairperson and members though recommendation had been sent to them by the Registrar General of the High Court on March 13.”
The court further directed the state government to issue necessary notifications regarding the appointments by June 25, failing which the Chief Secretary should be present on the next date. The court listed the matter for further hearing on June 25.
The court has also taken note of relocating the RERA office from Shimla to Dharamsala and observed: “We are also of the prima facie opinion that the whole purpose of dragging of the appointments and shifting the HQ of RERA is with a mala fide purpose and at this stage, we do not wish to say anything more.”
However, during the course of hearing, it was informed by the state that vide notification issued on June 19, only one member has been appointed namely Vidur Mehta.
The affidavit, dated June 19 filed today, shows that the process of appointment of other members and Chairperson is currently under consideration.
The court passed this order on a petition filed by one Atul Sharma seeking quashing of extension given to Prabodh Saxena as Chief Secretary on the ground that it was given in clear violation of the Central Services Rules and guidelines of Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).
It was further contended that the revised guidelines regarding grant of vigilance clearance provide that vigilance clearance is to be denied if the chargesheet has been filed in court by the investigating agency in a criminal case and the case is pending, and the sanction for prosecution has been granted by the competent authority in a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended in 2018) or any other criminal matter and the case is pending in the trial court.
Saxena has also applied for the post of Chairman, Himachal Pradesh Real Estate Regulatory Authority.
As, till date, the state has not filed reply to the petition, the court made it clear in its order that in case, replies are not filed by respondents by June 25, orders on interim directions would also be considered on the said date regarding the extension of Prabodh Saxena as Chief Secretary.
