SHILLONG, Oct 13: Advocate Napoleon S. Mawphniang has sought a central probe into the legality of Indian Forest Service officer Harish Chandra Chaudhary’s appointment as Additional Chief Secretary to the Governor of Meghalaya, citing the inability of government offices to produce records establishing the basis for the key posting at Lok Bhavan.
In an open letter sent to the President, the Prime Minister, the Union Home Minister and other authorities on Tuesday, he demanded the disclosure of the approvals and sanctions underpinning Chaudhary’s appointment, which, he said, had remained unexplained despite two RTI applications.
Mawphniang pointed out that the revised IAS cadre schedule for the Assam-Meghalaya joint cadre, notified in February 2025, lists the post of Commissioner and Secretary to the Governor but makes no provision for an Additional Chief Secretary to the Governor in Meghalaya.
Chaudhary, a 1992-batch Indian Forest Service officer, took charge on October 30 last year, initially as Principal Secretary to the Governor and later, under his present designation.
The IAS officer previously holding the post was relieved through the same notification that brought Chaudhary in.
The replies received from state offices, Mawphniang said, have deepened the questions. The Secretariat Administration Department (Accounts) stated that Chaudhary was paid against a post of Principal Secretary to the Government of Meghalaya and had no records of a post of Additional Chief Secretary to the Governor. The Governor’s Secretariat, meanwhile, said it held no records on the creation or redesignation of posts.
Citing Rules 9 and 10 of the IAS (Cadre) Rules, 1954, Mawphniang said the arrangement required scrutiny under provisions governing the appointment of non-IAS officers to cadre posts and the retention of vacant posts. He said no approval, reference or sanction had been produced to him.
Mawphniang clarified that he was not alleging personal wrongdoing or declaring the appointment unlawful, but demanded that the government establish its administrative and legal basis through official records.
He asked the Department of Personnel and Training to examine compliance with the cadre rules, publish any approvals and take appropriate action if the required clearances did not exist. He has plans to appeal against the RTI replies and approach the Meghalaya State Information Commission over the failure to disclose the records.