Hours after retirement as chief secy, Prabodh Saxena appointed HP electricity board chairman
1990-batch IAS officer to report to chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and shall be equivalent in rank to chief secretary: Himachal govt notification.
Hours after his six-month extended tenure as the chief secretary ended on Tuesday, Prabodh Saxena, was appointed chairman of the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board for three years.
The state government notification said Saxena, a 1990-batch IAS officer, “will work under the overall administrative control and supervision of chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and shall be equivalent in rank, status, and responsibility to the post of chief secretary.”
Sanjay Gupta, a 1988-batch IAS officer, has been transferred and appointed as chairman of the Himachal Pradesh State Pollution Control Board. He was the chairman of the state electricity board. He will continue to hold the post of chairman-cum-managing director, Ropeways and Rapid Transport System Development Corporation.
Saxena, who was due to retire on March 31, himself broke the news of his six-month extension as state chief secretary at his farewell dinner organised by the Himachal IAS Officers Association on March 28.
Considered close to Sukhu, he was appointed chief secretary on December 31, 2022.
It was on Sukhu’s intervention that the Centre granted him the six-month extension. Initially, Sukhu had sought a one-year extension, citing Saxena’s role in executing projects in public interest, but the extension was granted only for six months, according to rules.
CBI chargesheet costs him HPSERC, RERA top jobs
A public interest litigation is pending in the Himachal Pradesh high court through which petitioner Atul Sharma had sought the cancellation of the government’s March 28, 2025 order granting Saxena the six-month extension in view of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) chargesheet against him.
The CBI chargesheet cost Saxena the post of chairman of the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Regulatory Commission, for which he has not been considered.
His earlier attempt to be appointed as chairperson, Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA), Himachal Pradesh, was also marred as Saxena faces a chargesheet in the INX Media scam, in which former Union finance minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti are named accused.
In April, the opposition BJP criticised Saxena for violating “ethical conduct and administrative decorum” by hosting a Holi party and presenting a bill of ₹1.22 lakh to the state general administration department.
The controversy erupted when a copy of the bill issued by Hotel Holiday Home of Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation surfaced online, with the opposition BJP terming it a waste of government money. On March 14, lunch and snacks were arranged for 75 guests, which included IAS, IPS and IFS officers and their families.
