In surprise move, Centre gives NDMC charge to Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar; more transfers in pipeline

This is Kumar’s second stint in the NDMC and, according to bureaucratic sources, he was chosen for the responsibility given his “expertise” in administering it between 2015 and 2019.

“… with the approval of the Competent Authority, it is decided to assign the charge of Chairperson, New Delhi Municipal Council, to Shri Naresh Kumar, IAS (AGMUT: 1987), Chief Secretary of Govt. of NCT of Delhi, in addition to his existing charges, with immediate effect for a term not exceeding 02 months from the date of assumption of charge or until further orders, whichever is earlier…,” read the appointment order.

According to sources, the move had paved the way for more transfers within the capital – especially to the posts of Principal Secretary (Home) and Divisional Commissioner – which have been vacated by 1992-batch AGMUT cadre IAS officer Ashwani Kumar following his appointment as Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi on Tuesday.

In addition to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, each minister of the seven-member Delhi Cabinet has sought action against Kumar based on allegations ranging from corruption to insubordination since he took over the post.

The former Arunachal Pradesh chief secretary was at the helm of the vigilance inquiry in the liquor policy case which led to the arrest of several senior AAP leaders — first Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh and then Kejriwal — by central investigation agencies such as the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate.

As recently as last week, AAP Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj had written to Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla over Kumar’s “questionable conduct”, accusing him of violating the Model Code of Conduct during the recently-concluded Lok Sabha elections.

Before that, Kumar and the AAP government had locked horns over modalities related to internal polls in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi which finally could not take place since Kejriwal was not in a position to sign a file related to the appointment of a presiding officer.

Other major tussles

After an eight-year-long legal battle between the AAP government and the Centre over who held the reins, a Supreme Court Constitution Bench ruled that the Delhi government had legislative and executive powers over services in the Capital.

Days later, the Centre had brought the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023, which gave it control over services and gave sweeping powers to the Lieutenant Governor and bureaucrats; it was subsequently enacted as a law.

During a brief interlude between the SC verdict and the Ordinance’s promulgation, the AAP government took on the bureaucracy head-on with Kejriwal seeking Kumar’s removal.

The Ordinance had constituted a three-member National Capital Civil Service Authority (NCCSA) with the power to recommend the transfer, posting and vigilance matters related to all IAS and DANICS officers in the Capital; Kumar is one of the most important members of this body apart from Kejriwal who chairs it.

After the creation of the NCCSA, a bitter face-off was triggered between the AAP government and the bureaucracy.

In the midst of this, a lawyer sent a complaint to the Kejriwal government as well as the Centre alleging an “exorbitant compensation award” proposed by then district magistrate of Southwest Delhi, IAS officer Hemant Kumar, on Kumar’s watch for a parcel of land in Bamnoli village acquired for the Dwarka Expressway. The award was, however, set aside by the Delhi High Court.

The complainant accused the CS of being allegedly instrumental in providing illegal profits to a company linked to his son. Rejecting the allegations, Kumar had alleged it was a bid by AAP to “defame” and “malign” him.

Another complaint alleging that Kumar had bent tender-related rules at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS) in his capacity as the hospital’s chairman to allot a “prestigious project” for the creation of Artificial Intelligence-based virtual reality/augmented reality labs at it to his son’s 8-month-old “inexperienced start-up” sans tender, had emerged. This was denied by Kumar and the institute.

Days before he was scheduled to retire, the AAP government had, on November 10, moved the Supreme Court seeking its intervention to stay any “unilateral” action by the Centre over the appointment of a CS or extension of his tenure.

However, the SC had upheld the Centre’s decision to extend Kumar’s tenure by six months, stating that the extension cannot be construed to be violative of law. The SC also observed that the Centre was empowered to extend the tenure of the chief secretary who deals with police, land and public order, which are beyond the Delhi government’s jurisdiction.