Chandigarh, May 30 -- Chief secretary KAP Sinha took strong exception to additional chief secretary (home) Alok Shekhar's 'unilateral decision' to transfer a superintendent and reversed the order while issuing a stern reminder of administrative protocol.

Shooting off a letter to ACS (home), Sinha directed him to reinstate Jagdip Kapil, superintendent in the home department, immediately. HT has a copy of the letter.

The snub came after Shekhar, a 1993-batch IAS officer, had on May 23 relieved Kapil and directed him to report to the general administration department (GAD). Kapil complied and joined GAD the next day.

In the letter dated May 26, the chief secretary, who is from the 1992 batch, stated, "It is the prerogative of the chief se...