FINALLY HCS OFFICER REPLACED BY AN IAS AS HARYANA VIDHAN SABHA SECRETARY

AFTER HIGH COURT  ADVOCATE’S YEAR-LONG CAMPAIGN QUESTIONING APPOINTMENT UNDER HARYANA VIDHAN SABHA SECRETARIAT SERVICE RULES, 1981

Face2News/Chandigarh

 In a significant administrative development with legal and constitutional implications, the Haryana Government has replaced an HCS (Executive Branch- EB) officer with an IAS officer as the Secretary of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha (Legislative Assembly), after passage of a full year since objections were repeatedly raised regarding the legality of the appointment of HCS officer under the Haryana Vidhan Sabha Secretariat Service Rules, 1981.

A latest order issued on the evening of August 6, 2026, by the Haryana Department of Personnel—functioning directly under the Chief Secretary—appointed Virender Kumar Dahiya, IAS (2013 batch), who was hitherto serving as Director, State Transport, as the new Secretary of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha. He replaces Rajiv Prashad, HCS (2016 batch), who had been holding the post since July 2025.

The development comes after Advocate Hemant Kumar, a practising lawyer at the Punjab and Haryana High Court and a specialist in constitutional, legislative and administrative law, persistently questioned the appointment of Rajiv Prashad, HCS to the post of Secretary, Haryana Vidhan Sabha over the past one year.

According to Hemant, the Haryana Vidhan Sabha Secretariat Service Rules, 1981, in their present form, do not recognize an HCS (Executive Branch) officer as an eligible source of appointment to the post of Assembly Secretary.

Over the past year, Kumar addressed detailed legal representations to Governor Prof. Ashim Kumar Ghosh, Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, Speaker Harvinder Kalyan, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mahipal Dhanda, Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi, and senior officers of the Parliamentary Affairs Department, urging that the appointment of Rajeev Prasad be reconsidered unless the relevant service rules were first amended.

Interestingly, Lok Sabha MP from Ambala Parliamentary constituency in Haryana, Varun Chaudhary had also written to the Governor last year raising similar concerns, though no action followed at that time.

Service Rules Specify Eligible Sources of Appointment

Explaining the legal position, Hemant r said that while the Speaker is empowered to make appointments to various posts in the Assembly Secretariat, the appointment of the Secretary, Haryana Legislative Assembly is made by the State Government in consultation with the Speaker.

He pointed out that the 1981 Rules prescribe distinct sources of recruitment for the post.

Besides direct recruitment, the Rules provide that:

An Additional Secretary of the Assembly Secretariat with at least one year’s experience is eligible for promotion.
An officer of the appropriate rank from the Haryana cadre of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is eligible through transfer.
An Assistant Advocate General, Deputy Advocate General or Senior Deputy Advocate General from the Office of the Advocate General, Haryana, who is qualified to be appointed as a Public Prosecutor, is also eligible through transfer.
A member of the Haryana Superior Judicial Service, equivalent to the rank of an Additional District and Sessions Judge, may be appointed on deputation. However, no provision exists in the Rules for appointing an HCS (Executive Branch) officer to the post.

“Executive Orders Cannot Override Statutory Service Rules”

Hemant maintained that if the Government intended to appoint an HCS officer as Assembly Secretary on administrative grounds, it was first required to amend the statutory service rules.

“When service rules specifically prescribe the sources and eligibility for appointment to a statutory post, those provisions cannot be altered merely through executive orders,” Hemant argued.

He stressed that his objections were never directed against the competence or integrity of Rajeev Prasad.

“Rajeev Prashad is a highly accomplished officer, holding a postgraduate degree in law and pursuing doctoral research. He possesses considerable legal and administrative expertise. The issue has never been about the individual; it has always been about adherence to statutory service rules governing appointments in constitutional institutions,” Hemant said.

Issue of Institutional Legality, Not Individual Merit

According to Hemant, the controversy has evolved beyond the appointment of a particular officer and concerns the larger principle of rule of law in appointments to constitutional institutions.

He asserted that where statutory service rules prescribe eligibility and methods of recruitment, the Government is legally expected to follow those provisions unless they are amended through the prescribed procedure.

With the appointment of an IAS officer to the post, the issue has acquired renewed significance, particularly in the context of statutory compliance and institutional governance. Whether the Government will formally amend the Haryana Vidhan Sabha Secretariat Service Rules to include HCS officers as an eligible source of appointment remains still an open question.