"His Phone Was Switched Off": Delhi Government's Notice To IAS Officer

Ashish More, who was removed as the secretary of the Delhi government's services department last week, has been issued a show cause notice by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in the union territory.

Sources say the Delhi government is planning to initiate disciplinary action against Ashish More for not "complying with the Supreme Court order."

A reply has been sought from Ashish More within 24 hours.

Ashish More was removed from his post hours after the Supreme Court's landmark verdict over the control and posting of bureaucrats in Delhi.

Services Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj had earlier said that Ashish More, after being asked to make way for his replacement on Thursday, "unexpectedly left the Secretariat" and switched off his phone.

"Services Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj, instructed Services Secretary, Ashish More, to present a file for the transfer of a new officer to the post of Secretary of Services Department. However, Ashish More unexpectedly left the Secretariat without notifying the minister's office, rendering himself unreachable while his phone also remained switched off," a statement said.

"The special secretary of the services separtment sent a communication to Saurabh Bhardwaj, indicating that the Home Ministry's notification dated May 21, 2015, has not yet been set aside," it said.

The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the Delhi government has legislative and executive powers over administration of services and only "public order, police and land" are excluded from its jurisdiction.

In a democratic form of governance, the power of administration must rest on the elected arm and the Lieutenant Governor is bound by its decision, said the bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced after the verdict that there would be transfers to remove corrupt officers and bring in honest, hard-working officers. "Our work will now resume at 10 times the speed," Mr Kejriwal said, promising a "lean, thin, responsive, passionate and accountable" government.

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