Ranchi, Sept. 9: The orders passed by a senior IAS officer while serving a suspension for four months has landed the state government in the docks.

The Jharkhand government had appointed Chintu Nayak the transport and civil aviation secretary and transport commissioner on January 3, without revoking his suspension order passed by the Bihar government.

The revocation orders came on May 9 and the government made it effective from January 3, thus trying to provide legality to the orders passed by him during the suspension period.

But the high court’s ruling of September 4 that the officer’s appointment during the period was in itself “illegal” has left the government in a tight spot.

A division bench of Chief Justice V.K. Gupta and Justice Hari Shankar Prasad passed the order while hearing a writ by the Jharkhand Truck Owners' Association.

The petitioner’s counsel M.M. Prasad contended that Nayak was in custody for over 48 hours in connection with a vigilance case in December 2000 and had been suspended by the Bihar government.

Advocate-general Anil Kumar Sinha argued that the suspension was effective only for the period he was under custody and it automatically ended the moment he was released.

Sinha said if a government servant is suspended, it is not necessary to pass any specific order revoking the suspension and the government is within its rights to post such an official on a regular basis.

The court disagreed with Sinha’s contention. According to the All India Services rule, “a member of the service, who is detained in official custody whether on a criminal charges or otherwise for a period longer then 48 hours, shall be deemed suspended by the government.”