Pankaj Pandey shifted out of energy dept days after CS notice

Bengaluru

Days after the Karnataka Chief Secretary issued a notice seeking an explanation from senior IAS officer Pankaj Kumar Pandey over his absence from key energy-sector review meetings, the officer has been transferred out of the energy department, triggering fresh political and bureaucratic ripples in the State.

Pandey, a 2000-batch IAS officer and Managing Director of Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL), has been moved with immediate effect and posted as Principal Secretary to Government, Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (e-Governance). In his place, Ram Prasath Manohar V., Chairman of the Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board, has been given concurrent charge as KPTCL Managing Director.

The transfer comes close on the heels of a notice issued by Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh on January 23, seeking an explanation from Pandey for his alleged absence from crucial energy department review meetings, including one held at the Chief Minister’s residence/office on January 20. Though officials later maintained that Pandey’s explanation—citing a close relative’s ill health and an official meeting in New Delhi—was found satisfactory and that the matter stood closed, his sudden exit from the energy department has raised questions.

The sources further said not just few meetings, Pandey allegedly deliberately did not attend at least seven to eight meetings and showed insubordination. The sources said he allegedly disregarded CM’s office and was about to be suspended.

The episode follows a report by blrpost.com, later amplified by TV9 Kannada, which snowballed into a political storm and echoed in the special session of the Karnataka Legislature on Thursday. The opposition seized upon the developments to allege serious administrative interference within the energy department.

Former Energy Minister and Karkala MLA Sunil Kumar told the House that Energy Minister K J George had even offered to resign, citing interference by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s son, Yatindra Siddaramaiah, in departmental affairs. George publicly denied the claim, calling it baseless. However, senior Congress sources insisted that the assertion was “substantially true”.

According to these sources, Pandey’s absence from the meetings was not coincidental. They claimed he stayed away on the instructions of George, amid discomfort over alleged informal summons to the Chief Minister’s residence, reportedly made on behalf of Yatindra Siddaramaiah. When Pandey skipped the officially scheduled meeting, the Chief Secretary was allegedly asked to issue a formal notice.

Sources further alleged that Pandey was deeply disturbed by the sequence of events and even offered to resign in an internal meeting, prompting George to reportedly state that he would rather step down than allow the officer to be targeted.

At the core of the controversy, insiders claimed, is alleged interference by Yatindra in energy department tenders and contracts, said to have caused a widening rift between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and George—long considered close allies. The turmoil is also believed to have contributed to several senior IAS officers opting for central deputation in recent months, signalling unease within the State administration.

While the government has maintained that the notice issue was closed satisfactorily, Pandey’s transfer days later has ensured that the controversy refuses to die down.