Delhi High Court asks govt to empanel 1977 batch IAS Rakesh Behari as secretary

Rakesh Behari, a 1977 batch IAS officer and Managing Director of Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation, would have retired by the end of the month without getting the rank of a Union secretary. But now, Delhi High Court has directed the government to…
empanel the officer as a Union secretary with retrospective effect.
“We direct the respondents (Government of India and others) to issue fresh orders empanelling the petitioner (Rakesh Behari) for appointment as Secretary with effect from June, 2010 i.e. when officers of the 1977 batch were empanelled for posting as Secretary in the Government of India,” a bench comprising Justices Pradeep Nandrajog and V Kameswar Rao said in an order dated May 23 setting aside earlier order of Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT).
Behari, an AUMUT cadre IAS who had earlier worked as a joint secretary in the health and rural development ministries, has a reason to cheer as the High Court order says: “Surely, empanelment as Secretary may enhance status in the administrative hierarchy and/ or entail certain privileges after retirement.”
The bench further said: “If the petitioner stands retired, the direction of the Tribunal would be of no consequence. In so far as the contention of learned counsel for the respondents that the petitioner already stood empanelled for appointment to secretary equivalent post in the Centre is concerned, the same does not amount to compliance of the orders of the Tribunal. The very fact that the petitioner has been empanelled for appointment to the Secretary level post in the Centre would itself show there was no impediment, other than the reason given by the respondents in their order dated August 01, 2012 read with August 03, 2012. The reasoning given is not tenable and for all purposes the petitioner is deemed to have been empanelled along with officers of 1977 batch IAS Officers (June 2010), for posting as Secretary in the Government of India.”
Beginning his career as an SDO in Mizoram, Behari had earlier worked in Goa and Andaman as well. He had also worked as a principal secretary in Delhi’s PWD department.
Behari holds master degrees in physics and business administration.

Action and Appointments
a) The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the proposal of home ministry for extension in deputation tenure of Dr Ish Kumar, a 1985 batch IPS officer, as Inspector General (IG) in the Bureau of Police Research and Development for a period of one year beyond May 27, 2013.
b) The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the proposal of home ministry for extension in deputation tenure of Dr Ravi Prakash Meharda, a 1990 batch Rajasthan cadre IPS, for a period of three months beyond May 11, 2013.