In a setback to the Haryana government, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has returned a proposal to promote 27 Haryana Civil Services (HCS) officers to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), citing pending criminal charges against eight officers from the 2002 batch.
The proposal, sent in March, covered officers from the 2002, 2003, and 2004 batches. The UPSC has asked the state to submit a revised list excluding those charge-sheeted so that promotions under the 2020–2024 select list can proceed.
Haryana had argued that a charge sheet isn’t a final report under Section 173 of the CrPC and shouldn’t bar promotions. But in a reply dated May 22, the UPSC rejected this reasoning as legally untenable.
As a result, promotions for all 27 officers—including those from later batches with no charges—remain stalled. The issue comes amid a shortage of IAS officers in Haryana, which currently has 171 officers against a sanctioned strength of 215.
The controversy dates back to 2002, when allegations of irregularities surfaced during HCS recruitment under then CM Om Prakash Chautala. A writ petition was filed the same year, and in 2009, the Congress-led government submitted an affidavit detailing manipulations in answer sheets of at least nine candidates, some of whom now appear in the promotion list.
An FIR was also filed following a complaint from a rejected candidate, leading to a Vigilance Bureau probe and charges in 2023 against eight officers and former HPSC officials. In June that year, the President cleared their prosecution. However, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has since stayed the trial.
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