Three officials shunted from Environment Minister’s office in one day

The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on July 3 issued three orders removing officials attached to the office of Minister Bhupender Yadav, relieving them of their duties with immediate effect.

The appointment of Ayush Saran as Additional Private Secretary to the Minister was terminated. Shailesh Kumar Singh of the Central Secretariat Service, who also served as Additional Private Secretary, was “prematurely repatriated” to his parent cadre, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), with a provision of “extended cooling off”. Amar Singh, an Indian Revenue Service officer of the 2010 batch (IT) and Private Secretary to the Minister, was repatriated to his parent cadre, the Department of Revenue, on administrative grounds.

All three orders were issued in pursuance of a DoPT Office Memorandum dated July 2, 2026, and with the approval of the competent authority. Each was signed by Vibhuti Panjiyar, Under Secretary to the Government of India, according to the order verified by The Hindu.

Mr. Saran was relieved of his duties immediately. Mr, Shailesh was directed to report to the DoPT, and Mr. Amar was directed to report to the Department of Revenue. Copies of the orders were circulated to the Prime Minister’s Office, the Cabinet Secretariat and the parent departments concerned.

“This is unprecedented, in that three officials were repatriated on the same day,” a senior Environment Ministry official told The Hindu.

The reasons for the action were not stated in the orders and remained unknown.

The Hindu reached out to the Environment Ministry for comment. A spokesperson said no further details were available.