CJ-led bench to hear Suresh Kumar case

CHANDIGARH: A Punjab and Haryana high court division bench presided over by chief justice Krishna Murari will now hear Punjab government’s appeal against the single-bench order that had set aside the appointment of retired IAS officer Suresh Kumar as chief principal secretary to chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh. The second judge on the bench is justice Arun Palli.

A 1983-batch IAS officer, Kumar was appointed immediately after the Congress government took charge in Punjab in March last year. His appointment was challenged by one Ramandeep Singh, claiming that Kumar had become a ‘de-facto CM’.

The matter was listed for hearing for the first time before this bench, which ordered it to be listed for arguments on September 4. Earlier the matter was being heard by the division bench presided over by justice Rajesh Bindal. However, after the roster change in July, the matter was listed before the present bench.

A HC division bench had stayed the single-judge order on February 14. In January, the single-judge bench had held that Kumar was holding the public office without authority and overriding powers had been given to him without any accountability. Senior Congress leader and Supreme Court lawyer, P Chidambaram, is appearing for Punjab.