It is a common saying in Indian society that the son will take over the father’s legacy. There are many families in politics and business where the son inherits the father’s legacy. But does this happen in government jobs as well? Especially in posts like the Chief Secretary. Actually, this is happening in Karnataka.
Karnataka Chief Secretary Rajneesh Goyal will retire on Wednesday and his wife Shalini Goyal will replace him as the Chief Secretary of Karnataka. Let us tell you, Shalini is a 1989 batch IAS officer and Shalini will retire in June 2027. Such cases have happened in the country before this as well. Let us tell you how the Chief Secretary is selected and can the wife legally replace the husband.
How is the Chief Secretary selected
The role of two officers, the DGP and the Chief Secretary, is the most important for running the government in the state. The DGP is selected with the consent of both the UPSC and the Chief Minister. The right to choose the Chief Secretary rests entirely with the Chief Minister of the state. The CM can choose any senior IAS officer as the Chief Secretary of the state. If the CM chooses a junior officer as his Chief Secretary instead of a senior officer, then in this situation the senior IAS officer is posted on a post equivalent to the Chief Secretary outside the Ministry.
There have been many such cases before this. In the year 2000, when Karnataka Chief Secretary BK Bhattacharya retired from his post, his wife Teresa Bhattacharya took over as the Chief Secretary of the state in his place. Earlier, when BK Das retired, his wife Malti Das also took over as the Chief Secretary of Karnataka.
This had happened in Maharashtra too
This had happened in Maharashtra too a few days ago. Actually, after the retirement of the state’s Chief Secretary Manoj Saunik, his wife Sujata Saunik was made the Chief Secretary of the state. However, between Manoj Saunik’s retirement and Sujata Saunik’s appointment as Chief Secretary, Nitin Kareer also held this post. Let us now know what the law says about this.
Actually, the Chief Minister has the right to choose the Chief Secretary in the state. He can choose any senior IAS officer as the Chief Secretary of the state. In such a situation, if both the husband and wife are IAS officers in the same state and after the husband, the wife is the most senior IAS officer in the state, then the Chief Minister can choose her as his Chief Secretary. This rule has been applied in most of the cases mentioned above.
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