Home Secretary gets three-month extension

In view of general elections, the government on Friday extended the tenure of Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta by three months, barely four days before he was to retire.

The extension of the tenure of Gupta, a 1971-batch IAS officer of Uttarakhand cadre, was approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The Election Commission had sought extension for Gupta beyond the date of completion of the two-year tenure on March 31 for three months till June 30, by when the process of Lok Sabha elections would be over.

The commission was of the view that Gupta needed to be given the extension as he was well versed with the deployment of paramilitary forces for the Lok Sabha elections and for maintenance of general law and order in the country.

Gupta has been involved in discussions with the Election Commission on requirement of forces and their deployment for holding the general elections peacefully.