50 per cent pay of 2 ‘suspended’ Danics officers deducted

In a move that may trigger another round of confrontation between the Centre and the AAP dispensation in the city, the Delhi government has deducted 50 per cent of the salaries of two senior Danics officers working with its home department as they were suspended for defying a Cabinet order.

The Union home ministry had revoked the suspension order. On Janua-ry 27, Delhi home minister Satyendar Jain had issued an order saying special secretaries Yashpal Garg and Subhash Chandra would only be entitled to a subsistence allowance instead of their full salaries as they had been suspended by the Delhi government for allegedly defying a Cabinet order.

“The government has deducted the salary of Mr Garg and Mr Chandra by half for the month of February,” sources said.

On January 29, lieutenant-governor Najeeb Jung had declared “illegal,” the AAP government’s order to slash the salaries of the two special secretaries in the home department.

In a letter to city’s chief secretary K.K. Sharma, the lieutenant-governor had directed him to ensure full compliance with the Union home ministry’s directive and decl-ared that Mr Jain’s order to pay the two officials only subsistence allowa-nce has no legal sanctity.

“The direction of the ministry of home affairs makes it abundantly clear that no adverse action can be initiated against these officers based on the suspension orders since these orders were without authority of law, void ab initio and non est (does not exist). Therefore, the order dated January 27 issued by the minister of home, the Delhi government has no legal sanctity and cannot be implemented,” Mr Jung had said.