New Delhi: Three Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax) officers have been in-situ promoted to the grade of Chief Commissioner of Income Tax (Level 16 of the Pay Matrix) for the panel year 2026.
The officers promoted are Sunita Singh (IRS-IT:1994), Priya Ranjan Ghosh (IRS-IT:1994), and Manas Mehrotra (IRS-IT:1995).
The in-situ promotions place the three officers in the Chief Commissioner of Income Tax grade for the 2026 panel year.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday tried to contain a controversy over the sudden deletion of contempt petitions concerning the deputation of IPS officers to the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) from the cause list, saying “sometimes too much heat is generated out of nothing.”
The contempt petitions had suddenly been found deleted from the cause list on September 29 when a bench comprising Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice Manoj Misra was to begin hearing.
The apex court has now advanced joint hearing of connected cases to October 15.
The SC bench had sought an explanation from the registry on why the contempt matters, which had been judicially directed to be listed on September 29, were dropped from the cause list.
The CJI had then constituted a special bench to hear the matter, which was placed before it on Wednesday, along with a separate batch challenging a new law framed by the Centre formalising IPS deputations in CAPFs.
The bench accepted the registry’s explanation, but said the registry ought to have informed the bench that the matters were likely to be listed before a special bench.
The controversy had erupted on Tuesday after lawyers appearing on behalf of the petitioners informed the Justice Bhuyan-led bench that the matters, which had been specifically directed to be listed on September 29, had suddenly disappeared from the cause list. The bench had then directed the registry to explain why the case had been struck off despite a judicial order.
The special bench read out the registry’s note on Wednesday and said that counsel appearing for the Centre and writ petitioners had made a mentioning before the CJI on September 23 seeking that the contempt and writ petitions be placed before the same bench. The matter, however, was subsequently listed inadvertently before Justice Bhuyan’s bench on September 29, while the CJI had ordered that the two sets of cases be placed before a special bench.
Senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for the contempt petitioners, had termed the episode a matter of “institutional credibility.”
Despite enjoying good rapport with Haryana Chief Minister senior IAS officer Arun Gupta (IAS:1992:HY) retired on Friday without getting an extension. He was serving as Principal Secretary to the CM and holding the charge of Finance Secretary.
The state govt had to issue his retirement orders after getting no response from the Centre on its proposal seeking a one-year extension of his service.
Though there is speculation about his possible re-employment, a major bureaucratic reshuffle is also on the cards.
In the meantime, names of several officers are doing the rounds for the key post — including one officer currently on central deputation and two senior officers. Sources, however, indicate the possibility of Gupta’s re-employment could still not be ruled out.
What has fuelled the speculation about his re-entry into a govt post is the skipping of the customary farewell tea party hosted by the Haryana IAS Officers’ Association on the retirement of an IAS officer.
The Association, however, extended its wishes to Gupta on his superannuation but desisted from organising a farewell party for him.
If govt sources are to be believed, Gupta could be granted three months of re-employment as Principal Secretary to the CM against the cadre post under the rules. Another option for the state govt is to give him another important assignment.
New Delhi: Senior IAS officer Puneet Kansal (IAS:1996:SK), Additional Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, has been entrusted with the additional charge of Chairman, Airports Authority of India (AAI) for a period of three months.
The post fell vacant following the lateral appointment of incumbent Vipin Kumar (IAS:1996:BH) as Additional Secretary, Department of Rural Development.
New Delhi: The Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) has invited applications for the post of Director (Technical), Central Mine Planning & Design Institute Limited (CMPDIL).
According to a vacancy notification issued on September 30, 2026, eligible candidates can submit their applications online through the PESB portal by 3:00 PM on October 21, 2026.
Applications of candidates, except those employed in private sector companies, are required to be forwarded to the PESB by the concerned Nodal Officer, Head of Organisation, Competent Authority, Administrative Secretary or Cadre Controlling Authority by 5:00 PM on October 30, 2026.
The post is scheduled to fall vacant on August 1, 2027, following the scheduled retirement of incumbent Ajay Kumar, who is due to retire on July 31, 2027. Kumar has been serving as Director (Technical), CMPDIL since October 2022.
New Delhi: Uttarakhand cadre IPS officer Parhlad Narayan Meena (IPS:2012:UK) has now been appointed as Joint Director, Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) on deputation basis.
According to a letter issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Tuesday (September 29, 2026), the competent authority has approved his appointment to the Joint Director post in Level 13A of the 7th CPC Pay Matrix against a post earmarked for IPS officers under the Non-Central Staffing Scheme of MoEFCC.
The latest order supersedes the MHA’s earlier letter dated August 20, 2026, under which Meena had been appointed as Deputy Director (Intelligence & Coordination), WCCB.
The order directs Uttarakhand Government to relieve him to enable him to take up his new assignment at the Centre.
New Delhi: Karnataka cadre senior IAS officer V Vidyavathi (IAS:1991:KN), currently serving as Secretary, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan), has been given additional charge of Secretary, Ministry of Minority Affairs.
According to an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on Wednesday (September 30, 2026), the competent authority has approved the assignment of additional charge to Vidyavathi from October 5, 2026, to October 18, 2026.
She will hold the additional charge during the period of absence on leave of Srivastava Krishna (IAS:1994:KN), Secretary, Ministry of Minority Affairs.
New Delhi: The Centre on Wednesday (September 30, 2026) approved two proposals concerning senior-level positions under the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, including the re-employment of Dhirendra Ojha (IIS:1990) as Principal Director General, Press Information Bureau (PIB), and temporary upgradation of a DG-level post for Pragya Paliwal Gaur (IIS:1991).
According to an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the proposal to re-employ Ojha as Principal Director General, PIB, on contract basis for one year following his superannuation on September 30, 2026.
His re-employment will be effective from October 1, 2026, up to September 30, 2027, or until further orders, whichever is earlier, on the usual terms and conditions applicable to re-employed Central Government officers.
In the second decision, the ACC approved the temporary upgradation of one Director General-level post, carrying Level 15 of the Pay Matrix, to Principal Director General level (Level 17, Apex Grade) as a measure personal to Pragya Paliwal Gaur.
The upgradation will take effect from the date of her joining the post and will remain in force until she attains the age of superannuation on July 31, 2027.
Former Uttar Pradesh IAS officer Divya Mittal (IAS:2013:UP) has announced entry into politics after leaving the elite job, but she is not alone to do this. There has been a trend of former IAS and IPS officers forming political parties in Uttar Pradesh. But the challenge to turn administrative experience into political base has often proved tough, as most of them have not yet achieved the expected electoral success.
Thus, Mittal’s announcement to form a separate party has only revived the question: Will the experience of running the administration translate into a force to build an organisation in electoral politics?
A former 1992 batch IPS officer, Amitabh Thakur, had also joined active politics in 2021, but his Azad Adhikar Sena, registered with the Election Commission, failed to leave any impact. The Adhikar Sena fielded candidates in the Mainpuri Lok Sabha and Khatauli Assembly by-elections in the year 2022, but nothing special happened. In August, Amitabh announced that he would field candidates in 100 seats in the upcoming assembly elections. But no success came his way.
Another senior IPS officer of the 1994 batch, Asim Arun, provides a lone exception to the long list of the unsuccessful entrants by officially joining the ruling BJP on 16 January 2022, and successfully contesting the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections from Kannauj Sadar. Arun is currently a minister in the Yogi Adityanath government.
Former DGP Sulkhan Singh, a 1980-batch IPS officer, formed the Bundelkhand Loktantrik Party in November 2023. Sulkhan had retired in 2017 after he had been demanding the creation of a separate Bundelkhand state by merging 15 districts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
Similarly, Ram Bahadur, a former IAS officer, also tried to make an independent path in politics through his Nagarik Ekta Party. Ram Bahadur, who contested the assembly elections from the BSP in the year 2017, also joined the BJP in January 2022.
Yet another former IPS officer SR Darapuri also joined the All India People’s Front after retirement and unsuccessfully contested from Faizabad Lok Sabha seat in 2019.
Former IAS officer Vijay Shankar Pandey also contested the Lok Sabha elections from Faizabad in the year 2019 by forming the Lok Gathbandhan Party after retirement without success.
Similarly, another former IAS officer Chandrapal formed the Adarsh Samaj Party but to no avail.
It is worth noting that none of these IAS-IPS officers who formed their own party has achieved the expected major success in electoral politics. They seem to have later discovered how difficult is to change the administrative identity to the grassroots political organization essential to register victories at the hustings.
New Delhi: The Centre on Wednesday (September 30, 2026) appointed Narendra Bhooshan (IAS:1992:UP) as Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and Dilip Kumar (IAS:1995:PB) as Secretary, Department of Land Resources, Ministry of Rural Development.
Bhooshan, currently serving as Secretary, Department of Land Resources, will succeed Tanmay Kumar (IAS:1993:RJ) as Environment Secretary following Kumar’s superannuation on September 30, 2026.
Dilip Kumar, currently Director General (Training), Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, will succeed Bhooshan as Secretary, Department of Land Resources.
The appointments were approved by the ACC as part of the changes at the Secretary-level in the Central government.
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