Why CM's secretary must not sign for CM, IPS Amitabh Thakur moves court

DURING Mayawati’s reign as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, her secretary Vijay Singh, an IPS officer, signed on documents with comments that CM approves the matter. Current CM Akhilesh Yadav from Samajwadi Party is also continuing the same practice where his secretary Anita Singh, an IAS officer of 1990 batch, signs on files in his name, alleges 1992 batch IPS officer...
Amitabh Thakur while challenging the practice of secretaries in chief minister office signing documents on CM’s behalf. Thakur, who fought a court battle last year against alleged harassment by secretary to CM Vijay Singh among others, has now filed a new petition in Lucknow bench of Allahabad high court.
Thakur was upset by the fact that in one of his files, CM’s secretary Anita Singh singed instead of CM himself. Thakur has argued that it’s not a right practice. Mulayam Singh Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav’s father, used to sign on files himself when he was the chief minister, Thakur has argued.
The court will now have to take a call whether delegation of work by chief minister to secretary can also include signatures on one’s behalf. It’s also argued that if such an arrangement is allowed, the secretary at times may misuse the power and sign without actually taking CM’s approval.
Thakur had a rough patch with the government from 2003 when a vigilance inquiry was initiated against him to probe allegations including one that he was running an NGO on his wife’s name. Though he was exonerated in most cases, his promotion to DIG was stalled for years forcing him to approach court.

Bureaucrats are like “horses”
Virbhadra Singh who is taking over the reign in Himachal Pradesh has sent out a warning to bureaucracy saying officers on re-employment must quit voluntarily. He was upset by the fact that a few bureaucrats had worked too closely with his predecessor Prem Kumar Dhumal. Yet, the veteran politician knows the importance of bureaucracy. Here is Virbhadra’s quotable quote: “Bureaucracy is like a horse. If the rider is good, it performs well. If the rider is inexperienced, he falls from the horse.”

Action and Appointments
a) Vijay Sharma, a 1989 batch Karnataka cadre Indian Forest Service officer who was earlier appointed as Additional Commissioner (Forestry) will now be private secretary to the minister of state (independent charge) Manish Tewari.