Ramacharyulu removed as Rajya Sabha Secy Gen in 73 days, PC Mody is new SG

Mody is the first officer from the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) to serve as the Secretary-General of the Upper House

Dr PPK Ramacharyulu was on Friday removed as Rajya Sabha Secretary General within 73 days of his appointment in a surprise move that saw former CBDT Chairperson Pramod Chandra Mody replacing him.

No specific reason was given for the removal of Ramacharyulu, whose appointment on September 1 was touted as creating history as he was the first officer from the Upper House's Secretariat to rise to the position in the past 70 years, though he was appointed as an Adviser.

Ramacharyulu, a 64-year-old officer who holds a PhD from the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) for his work on 'Committee Systems of Indian Parliament and the US Congress : A Comparative Study' in 2005, worked in the Secretariat for 39 years and had the shortest stint as Secretary General.

Mody (62), who took over on Friday, is the first officer from the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) to serve as the Secretary General of the Upper House. Usually, only serving or retired IAS officers were appointed Secretary General before Ramacharyulu.

The former IRS officer, who is considered close to the ruling dispensation under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, retired as Chairperson of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on May 31 this year after holding the post for 27 months from February 2019 to May 2021. Mody, a former 1982-batch IRS officer, got three extensions before retiring.

"Not surprised at all. Dr PPK Ramacharyulu is a thorough professional, non-partisan and perfectly qualified for the post—three deadly sins in the Modi regime," Congress Chief Whip Jairam Ramesh said.

Senior RJD MP Manoj K Jha tweeted, "there is more to 'it' than what meets the 'eye'."

The Rajya Sabha Secretary General heads the Secretariat and provides help to the Chairman in the running of the House.

According to an official statement, Mody has around 40 years experience in the government. He has "deep insight into jurisprudence and exposure to judicial and quasi-judicial processes".

As Member (Administration) in the CBDT, he has handled the entire cadre of IRS officers and staff. He also supervised the functioning of investigation wing of the Income Tax Department as the Member (Investigation).

During his tenure as CBDT Chairman, the statement said, he "encouraged and promoted" extensive use of technology. The constant upgrading of systems culminated into introduction of Faceless Assessment and Faceless Appeals Schemes as well as other projects leading to drastic reduction in time taken for processing of Income Tax Returns and issuance of refunds, it said.

Mody holds a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Law degrees and also has a Diploma in journalism.

"He has attended various domestic and International training courses including Advanced Management course for tax officials at Royal Institute of Public Administration, London, Commercial public enterprises management course at University of Bradford, United Kingdom, and other mid career training programmes," the statement added.

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