SHIMLA: The Himachal Pradesh High Court has issued a notice to the Sukhvinder Singh government in response to a petition challenging the appointment of former Chief Secretary R D Dhiman as the chairman of the state Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA). The court clarified that Dhiman’s selection will be subject to the final outcome of the petition.
The petition was filed by Rajeev Verma, a former member of the state RERA, and was heard by a division bench consisting of Justice Vivek Singh Thakur and Justice Sushil Kukreja on August 20. Dhiman was appointed as RERA chief on June 25.
The petitioner contended that the government appointed Dhiman while disregarding the order of preference established by the selection committee headed by the Chief Justice. This committee also included the principal secretaries of the housing and law departments. Verma claimed he was ranked first in the committee’s order of preference, while Dhiman was second. Therefore, he argued that the government’s appointment violated the Rules of the Himachal Pradesh Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Rules, 2017. The case is scheduled for the next hearing on September 15.
