UP chief secretary's appointment challenged in court

, June 4: The appointment of senior Indian Administrative Service officer Alok Ranjan as the chief secretary of

has been challenged in the Allahabad High Court.

Varanasi resident Prakash Chandra Srivastava in his petition has alleged that Ranjan was named in the Laccfed scam probe and hence his appointment was not in accordance with the standards and probity of the top post of chief secretary.

The Laccfed scam related to release of Rs. 40 crore to Labour and Construction Co-operative Federation from the high education department of Uttar Pradesh government for construction and renovation of various school buildings during 2010-2011.

Justice Krishna Murari has admitted the petition and listed it for hearing on Thursday.

Advocate General V.C. Mishra has questioned maintainability of the petition on grounds that the petitioner has not given full details of the charges levelled against the top bureaucrat of the state.

Srivastava had earlier also filed a petition against Ranjan but it was dismissed and he withdrew it.

He has now filed it as a public interest litigation after Alok Ranjan was appointed chief secretary last week. Alok Ranjan succeeded Jawed Usmani as the state's top official.

IANS