Dharamshala, Oct. 2 -- Hours after his six-month extended tenure as the chief secretary ended on Tuesday, Prabodh Saxena, was appointed chairman of the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board for three years. The state government notification said Saxena, a 1990-batch IAS officer, "will work under the overall administrative control and supervision of chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and shall be equivalent in rank, status, and responsibility to the post of chief secretary." Saxena, who was due to retire on March 31, himself broke the news of his six-month extension as state chief secretary at his farewell dinner organised by the Himachal IAS Officers Association on March 28. Considered close to Sukhu, he was appointed chief secretary on December 31, 2022. It was on Sukhu's intervention that the Centre granted him the six-month extension. Initially, Sukhu had sought a one-year extension, citing Saxena's role in executing projects in public interest, but the extension was granted only for six months, according to rules. A PIL is pending in the Himachal Pradesh HC through which petitioner Atul Sharma had sought the cancellation of the government's March 28, 2025 order granting Saxena the six-month extension in view of the CBI chargesheet against him. The CBI chargesheet cost Saxena the post of chairman of the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Regulatory Commission, for which he has not been considered. His earlier attempt to be appointed as chairperson, Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA), Himachal, was also marred as Saxena faces a chargesheet in the INX Media scam, in which former Union finance minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti are named accused. In April, the opposition BJP criticised Saxena for violating "ethical conduct and administrative decorum" by hosting a Holi party and presenting a bill of Rs.1.22 lakh to the state general administration department....