Indianmandarins was first to report on the technical complexities in the appointment of Punjab's super chief secretary Suresh Kumar on July 18, 2017, and August 13, 2017. In view of those technical complexities, on Wednesday, January 17, the Punjab and Haryana High Court set aside the appointment of Suresh Kumar (Retd IAS:1983: PB) who was appointed to the post of chief principal secretary in Punjab chief minister, Capt. Amarinder Singh's office in March 2017 for a period of five years on the same pay scale as the Union Cabinet Secretary. The court held the appointment against the constitutional scheme and norms also because it did not have the sanction of the Governor. Suresh Kumar had retired in 2016 as an additional chief secretary. During the course of hearing in the HC, questions arose as to how Kumar could be accorded the powers of a cadre officer when his position in the government is neither cadre nor non-cadre. Secondly, the legality of the delegation of the CM's power in his absence from the HQ was also questioned. Defending the Govt's decision, former Solicitor General of India and Senior Advocate Ranjit Kumar, who represented the government, said the chief principal secretary is first required to speak with the chief minister over the phone when the latter is not present at the headquarters and then decide on cases requiring immediate attention. However, the HC dismissed his argument and nullified the appointment of Kumar. All eyes are now fixed on who would replace Kumar.