On August 12 the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet extended the service of Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla by one year. His present tenure as Union Home Secretary was set to end on August 22.
Announcing the extension of Ajay Bhalla’s service, the Government of India said, “The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved extension in service to Shri Ajay Kumar Bhalla, IAS (AM: 84) as Home Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, for a period of one year beyond the present tenure i.e., 22.08.2021, in relaxation of FR 56 (d) and Rule 16 (1A) of the All India Services (Death-cum-Retirement Benefits) Rules, 1958.”
However, his tenure was extended till August 22, 2021, in October last year. The October 2020 order announcing the extension of his tenure read: “The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved the extension in service of Bhalla as the Home Secretary beyond the date of his superannuation, i.e., November.
Ajay Bhalla, a 1984 batch IAS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, replaced Rajiv Gauba as the Home Secretary in August 2019. His tenure was set to end last year, and he was supposed to retire in November 202 after turning 60 years old.
