Gurugram: The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has approved the promotion of 18 Haryana Civil Service (HCS) officers to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) cadre, following a Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) meeting 14 July to address the critical shortage of IAS officers in the state.
However, nine officers from the 2002 batch have been granted provisional promotion, with eight facing legal challenges to their initial recruitment, and one facing a different case.
Currently, the northern state has 169 officers against the sanctioned 225.
The official notification for the officers promoted by the UPSC will come in due course, a senior officer told ThePrint, adding the promotees include officers from multiple batches, notably 1997-batch officer Vivek Padam Singh, alongside Munish Nagpal, Mahendra Pal, Satpal Sharma, and Sushil Kumar of the 2002 batch.
Varsha Khangwal, Virender Sehrawat, Satyender Duhan, Manita Malik, Satbir Singh, Amrita Siwach, Yogesh Kumar, Dr. Vandana Disodia, Jaydeep Kumar, and Samwartak Singh Khangwal of the 2004 batch have also been promoted.
Notably, Ashima Sangwan, who took voluntary retirement, Amardeep Singh, who retired in February 2024, and Dr. Subhita Dhaka, who retired in February 2025, were also approved for promotion, as the HCS retirement age is 58 compared to 60 for IAS officers, allowing retrospective eligibility.
Three officers from the 2004 batch—Anurag Dhalia, Yogesh Kumar Mehta, and Naveen Kumar Ahuja—missed the promotion list because of consideration of the retired officers, and are likely to be considered later this year alongside the 2011 batch, said the officer.
Nine officers, including eight from the 2002 batch—Veena Hooda, Surender Singh, Jagdeep Dhanda, Dr. Sarita Malik, Kamlesh Kumar Bhadu, Kuldhir Singh, Vatsal Vashisht, and Jag Niwas—along with Mahabir Prasad (who faces another case), have got only provisional promotion, pending resolution of a chargesheet filed by the Haryana Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in 2023.
The chargesheet alleges irregularities in the 2001 HCS and Allied Services recruitment examination conducted by the Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC) to select the 2002 batch under the then-Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) government.
In the DPC meeting, apart from UPSC member Dinesh Das, Haryana chief secretary Anurag Rastogi, additional chief secretary (Health) Sudhir Rajpal, and additional chief secretary (General Administration Department) Vijayendra Kumar were present.
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The 2002 batch controversy
The provisional promotions of the nine officers have stirred debate, fuelled by objections from senior Congress leader Karan Singh Dalal, a former MLA from Palwal.
In March, Dalal wrote to President Droupadi Murmu, alleging “substantial prima facie evidence of corruption” in the 2001 HCS examination that selected the 2002 batch.
His claims stem from a 2002 writ petition filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, challenging the recruitment process over alleged malpractices, including answer sheet manipulation and mark inflation through forgery.
Aside from the writ petition, Jalandhar resident Vishal Chauhan, who had applied for the post but was not selected, filed a police complaint, on the basis of which an FIR was lodged.
A subsequent investigation by the State Vigilance Bureau culminated in the registration of an FIR on 18 October 2005 under sections of the erstwhile Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Based on the probe, the ACB filed a chargesheet in 2023 in a Hisar court against eight 2002-batch officers, former HPSC chairperson K.C. Bangar, commission members, and examiners.
In his letter to the President, Dalal has accused the Haryana government of ignoring legal advice against issuing integrity certificates to these officers, a prerequisite for IAS promotion, and shielding them under political pressure.
The UPSC’s approval follows multiple rejections of Haryana’s promotion proposals due to the pending chargesheet. In May, the UPSC had returned the Haryana government’s proposal to promote 27 state service officers to IAS, citing the “charge sheet” against eight 2002-batch officers for alleged malpractices in their initial selection process.
In March, the state argued that a chargesheet does not constitute a final report under Section 173 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and thus should not bar the issuance of integrity certificates for promotion. Section 173 deals with the report of a police officer on the completion of an investigation.
On 11 July, the HC stayed the chargesheet against Jagdeep Dhanda, one of the eight accused, who argued his inclusion after 18 years was mala fide.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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