Dhol’s controversial appointment to post

CHANDIGARH: Balbir Singh Dhol, whose tenure has been cut short by the Congress government, was appointed chairman of the PSEB by the previous Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party (SAD-BJP) government in a controversial manner.

A public interest litigation (PIL) was filed in the Punjab and Haryana high court in January this year, seeking quashing of his appointment. The controversy over his appointment erupted, as the state government had made an amendment in the Punjab School Education Board Act, 1969, to “accommodate” him. The amendment enabled the government to appoint an IAS or Punjab Civil Service (PCS) officer having administrative experience of 10 years to the post.

A PCS officer, Dhol was on the verge of retirement when he was made the PSEB chairman. In his PIL, petitioner-advocate HC Arora had stated that till December 23, 2016, Section 6 of the PSEB Act provided that “no person shall be appointed as chairman of the PSEB unless he has served the central government or the

state government or both on a gazetted post for a period of not less than 15 years”.

The court was informed that the state government did not invite applications from eligible persons for considering their competitive claims for the post. Also, Dhol had only nine years and eight months’ service as a PCS (executive branch) officer till he superannuated on December 23, 2014, he said. Prior to becoming chairman, Dhol was serving as director public instructions (DPI secondary) and had got an extension for two years. The PIL is pending with the high court.