AP govt transfers 50 group-I officials after high court rap on delay

Vijayawada: Following the directions of the AP high court, the state govt on Wednesday transferred as many as 50 officials from their present positions and asked them to report to the general administration department (GAD) immediately. All the transferred officials were successful candidates in the 2018 Group-1 examination and joined service.Earlier in the day, the high court came down heavily on chief secretary K Vijayanand for not implementing its order in the Group-I issue. The high court asked Vijayanand why the successful candidates were not transferred even after it gave categorical orders on Feb 11. The bench asked the chief secretary whether he knew the meaning of "forthwith" and observed that if the chief secretary of the state himself did not obey the court orders, what respect the officers under him would show towards the high court.Chief secretary K Vijayanand issued orders directing the concerned district collectors, CCLA, and CDMA to relieve 25 officials working in revenue department and make internal arrangements in their positions. The chief secretary also directed them to send the relief orders to GAD through email and WhatsApp.Similarly, director general of police (DGP) Harish Kumar Gupta issued orders proceedings directing 25 deputy superintendents of police (DSPs) to report immediately to the police headquarters. The transferred officers have been instructed to wait till further orders were issued. The chief secretary faced heat from the high court for failing to implement the orders to transfer the 2018 Group-1 successful candidates from focal positions to non-focal positions. The high court directed him to submit a compliance report by Thursday.