Kanpur, June 20 -- Following a high-profile bureaucratic standoff, the state government has suspended Kanpur's chief medical officer (CMO) Dr Hari Dutt Nemi who was embroiled in months of tension with district magistrate Jitendra Pratap Singh. The suspension order also attaches Dr Nemi to the state headquarters and initiates a departmental inquiry into alleged irregularities in the appointment of doctors, as well as procedural and administrative lapses. Dr Nemi has said he will challenge his suspension in court.Dr Udaynath, additional CMO from Shravasti, has been appointed as the new Kanpur CMO. The administrative action comes a day after Hindustan Times prominently featured the controversy. The state government has cited three key grounds for Dr Nemi's suspension: failure to publish recruitment notices on the National Health Mission's website, delay in releasing interview results despite specific directives, and relieving a senior finance officer from statutory responsibilities in violation of protocol. After his suspension, Dr Nemi sent a letter to CM Yogi Adityanath and held a press conference. During the press conference, he alleged caste-based discrimination by the district magistrate. He claimed that the DM was angered when he refused to reverse the transfer of Dr Subodh Prakash Yadav-an ACMO accused of corruption and political bias-and that he was repeatedly humiliated for being a Dalit. "The DM told me I lacked intelligence, could not understand the system, and didn't know how to earn money," Dr Nemi alleged during the press conference. Reacting to Dr Nemi's allegations, DM Singh said publicly criticising an official suspension order and levelling baseless allegations against fellow officers amounts to gross indiscipline. He also said all relevant facts have been communicated to the competent authority and appropriate action will be taken in accordance with procedure....