Senior IPS officer Rekha Lohani (IPS:1997:OR) has been appointed as Inspector General (IG) in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on a lateral shift basis. She is presently serving as IG in the Bureau of Police Research & Development (BPR&D).
According to an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on Friday (November 28, 2025), the competent authority has approved her appointment as IG, CRPF, with effect from the date she assumes charge. Her tenure will run until January 15, 2028, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
Lohani’s central deputation tenure is counted from January 16, 2023, when she took charge as IG, BPR&D, for a five-year term. She will now continue on deputation in her new role in the CRPF up to January 15, 2028.
Another state has got enmeshed in a legal battle over the appointment of a regular DGP. This time, it is West Bengal. The matter was brought to the court by senior IPS officer Dr Rajesh Kumar (IPS:1990:WB), who moved the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), challenging the Union Public Service Commission’s decision to exclude him and two other senior-most officers—Rajiv Kumar (IPS:1989:UP) and Ranvir Kumar (IPS:1990:WB)—from the panel for appointment as a regular DGP. Currently, Rajiv Kumar, a close confidante of the Bengal CM, is serving as the acting DGP.
Dr Kumar contends that the exclusion of their names from the panel is a violation of the criteria laid down by the Supreme Court in Prakash Singh vs. Union of India (2006).
The matter of fact is that when the vacancy for the DGP post arose on December 27, 2023, Kumar and the two other senior officers had more than six months of residual service remaining, fulfilling the mandatory requirement. The Mamata Banerjee government sent a panel of 10 eligible IPS officers to the UPSC in July 2025, each of whom had more than six months of service left. But when the meeting was held on October 30, 2025, for finalising the panel, these three officers did not have six months of service left.
The UPSC claims to have excluded their names on this ground. Now, Kumar alleges that the decision was arbitrary and discriminatory.
The Himachal Pradesh High Court has taken a strong exception to government employees of the health and education departments misusing deputations. The court said that these employees secure deputations to urban centres, particularly Shimla, while continuing to draw the service benefits meant for their original postings in hard, tribal, and rural areas.
The division bench, comprising Chief Justice Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia and Justice Jiya Lal Bhardwaj, described it as “disturbing factors” involving a pattern while hearing a public interest litigation. The High Court observed that by doing so, the whole purpose of deputing official(s) for development and the sufferings of persons residing in rural/difficult areas are rendered ineffective.
The bench vented its anger by saying that this practice undermines the intent of the hard-area posting scheme and emphasised the need for urgent intervention to prevent further misuse.
The issue came to light after compliance affidavits submitted by the director of health services and the education secretary revealed that 123 employees of the health department and 86 of the education department were deputed at locations other than their official places of posting.
The court had earlier sought clarification on whether employees could continue to claim transfer benefits based on their original postings despite extended deputations elsewhere. Supplementary affidavits filed by the govt confirmed that deputation periods are not reflected in the service book of the concerned employee for future transfers.
The court described it as a serious issue that requires redressal and directed the chief secretary to issue necessary instructions and policy corrections.
The Andhra Pradesh government on Friday (November 28, 2025) extended the tenure of Chief SecretaryK Vijayanand (IAS:1992:AP) by three months. This comes after the central government approved the proposal.
With the extension, Vijayanand will continue in the post until the end of February 2026. He was earlier set to retire on November 30, 2025.
According to officials, G Sai Prasad (IAS:1991:AP), who is Special Chief Secretary (Water Resources), is likely to become the next Chief Secretary. He is expected to take charge after Vijayanand’s extended term ends in March 2026.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah sounded rather confident while inaugurating the 60th DGP/IGP conference in Raipur on Friday. He started his speech on a positive note, saying the country would be completely free from the problem of Naxalism before the next conference. He urged the security machinery to launch a frontal attack on narcotics and organised crime. While exhorting the country’s top police officers attending the conference, Shah urged them to start a 360-degree offensive against them.
He was speaking on the first day of the DGP/IGP conference, which is being organised for the first time in Chhattisgarh’s capital city, Raipur. The conference is being attended by top police officers from across the country.
According to Shah, Naxalism, Northeast, and Jammu & Kashmir had been bleeding India for the past 40 years, but Modi government has provided their permanent solutions.
He emphasised three key points—accuracy of intelligence, clarity of objectives, and synergy in action—to deliver a strong blow to radicalisation, extremism, and narcotics.
Besides, Shah stressed the need to take on drug traffickers and criminals by creating such a system that they are not able to gain even an inch of space in this country. He asked the state police chiefs to work together with the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and launch a stringent crackdown on narcotics syndicates operating at the state, national, and international levels, and to put their kingpins behind bars.
The conference will have detailed deliberations on key security issues, such as Left-wing extremism, counter-terrorism, disaster management, women’s safety, and the use of forensic science and artificial intelligence in policing.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who arrived in Raipur on Friday night, will be attending the conference on Nov 29 and 30.
The central government on Friday (November 28, 2025) appointed senior IRS officerVivek Chaturvedi(IRS-C&IT:1990) as Chairman of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC). Before this appointment, Chaturvedi was serving as a Member of the Board. The Department of Personnel & Training issued the order after the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved his elevation.
The decision has drawn attention in bureaucratic circles. Many expected the post to go to one of the senior officers from the 1989 batch — Surjit Bhujbal, Yogendra Garg, or Mohan Kumar Singh — after the retirement of Chairman Sanjay Kumar Agarwal (IRS-C&IT:1988) on the same day. The government chose Chaturvedi instead. He is known in the service for his clean record and for his straightforward, integrity-focused work style.
Chaturvedi became a Member of the CBIC after taking over from Vivek Ranjan (IRS-IT:1990), who retired on August 31, 2025. Before joining the Board, he worked as Principal Director General of Vigilance and Chief Vigilance Officerat CBIC, giving him long experience in vigilance and policy work.
IAS officer Ajay Kumar (IAS:2006:GJ), currently serving as Joint Secretary in the Department of Commerce, has been prematurely repatriated to his parent cadre, Gujarat. According to an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on Friday (November 28, 2025), the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the proposal of Ministry of Defence to repatriate Kumar with effect from December 31, 2025 (AN), along with the imposition of extended cooling off. His central deputation tenure was originally scheduled to end on July 14, 2026.
Notably, on July 12, 2019, the DoPT issued appointment order of Kumar as Private Secretary to Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas. He assumed charge on August 2, 2019, for a tenure of five years. He continued in the Minister’s office until October 2, 2022, when he was transferred and appointed Joint Secretary in the Department of Defence for the remaining period of his central deputation, up to July 14, 2024. On July 15, 2024, his tenure was further extended for two years, up to July 14, 2026.
As Legendofficers.com reported on November 15, Rajasthan cadre IAS officer Siddharth Mahajan (IAS:2003:RJ)was likely to be repatriated to his parent cadre — and the prediction has come true. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet on Friday (November 28, 2025) cleared his repatriation to the Rajasthan cadre with the imposition of an extended cooling-off period. Until now, he was serving as Joint Secretary in the Department of Commerce.
Sources indicate a strong possibility that Mahajan may be posted in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) as Secretary after his return.
Mahajan began his central deputation in November 2021 when he was appointed Joint Secretary in the Office of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. He continued in the Speaker’s Secretariat until March 26, 2024, after which he was moved to the Ministry of Commerce & Industry and posted as Joint Secretary in Department of Commerce for a three-year tenure ending on November 7, 2024. This tenure was extendable up to a maximum of seven years until November 7, 2028, subject to cadre clearance.
In October 2024, his tenure was formally extended for a combined period of seven years — up to November 7, 2028, or until further orders — before today’s order repatriating him to Rajasthan.
As first reported by Legendofficers.com on October 29, the Maharashtra government on Friday (November 28, 2025) issued orders appointing senior IAS officer Rajesh Aggarwal (IAS:1989:MH) as the next Chief Secretary of the state. He will assume charge after the retirement of the incumbent, Sanjay Kumar (IAS:1988:MH), on November 30, 2025. Aggarwal will continue to hold his current portfolio as Additional Chief Secretary – Administrative Reforms, Excellence & Good Governance.
Notably, we were the first in the national media to report that his repatriation to Maharashtra—after nearly a decade on central deputation—was initiated at the request of the state government specifically to appoint him as the next Chief Secretary.
Aggarwal is known for his strong technological expertise. An IIT Delhi graduate with a B.Tech in Computer Science, he joined the IAS in 1989 and has continued to pursue his passion for algorithms, natural language understanding, fuzzy logic, and technology for public good. He has led multiple big data–driven reforms, enabling better beneficiary targeting and the elimination of bogus records.
His contributions to India’s major digital transformation initiatives include key roles in Aadhaar, Jan Dhan, DigiLocker, and Jeevan Pramaan. He has also authored more than 70 judgments under the IT Act, helping shape India’s cyber jurisprudence.
A strong advocate for accessibility and inclusion, Aggarwal has played an important role in ensuring that government buildings, websites, and voting systems are accessible to persons with disabilities. He is also a pioneer in Indian language computing, having managed VOTER databases across 15 languages and developing Unicode and fuzzy-matching solutions.
When he was repatriated to Maharashtra, Aggarwal was serving as Secretary, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, a role he held since September 2022. He had been on central deputation since January 2015, where he held several senior positions, including:
Joint Secretary, Financial Services
Joint Secretary, Tribal Affairs
Joint Secretary, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship
Additional Secretary & Director General, Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship
Additional Secretary & Financial Advisor, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (from 2019)
Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (from September 2021)
In his home cadre, Aggarwal began his career as Assistant Collector, Thane, and went on to serve as District Collector, Akola, besides holding several significant assignments in the Departments of Rural Development, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development, and Fisheries.
Amidst the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and the election cycle, the Mamata Banerjee government in Bengal has expanded the Chief Electoral Officer’s financial powers, placing him on par with senior state bureaucrats, including an additional chief secretary, principal secretary, and secretary. It has been done to delegate financial authority to the CEO.
The CEO will now be empowered to independently sanction expenditure under Administrative Expenditures and State Development Scheme (SDS) categories. The audit branch of the finance department issued an order in this regard, saying the decision follows a long-pending proposal. Official sources said that the move will help streamline administrative processes and expedite project-related approvals within the CEO’s office.
The government’s order has come after the state BJP unit submitted a memorandum to the Election Commission of India (ECI), alleging that the CEO’s office in Bengal lacked independence from the state administration. Acting on it, the ECI had directed the state government, through a letter to Chief Secretary Manoj Pant, to take necessary steps to strengthen the CEO’s office and create a separate election department fully delinked from any state department.
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