A day before the launch of the odd-even scheme for private vehicles across the National Capital Region, several members of the Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Civil Service Officers’ Association decided to go on mass leave, to protest against the suspension of two senior officials of the body on Monday. On Thursday, the Ministry of Home Affairs declared the decision to suspend the two officers null and void.

The Aam Aadmi Party government had suspended Subhash Chandra, special secretary (prisons), and Yashpal Garg, special secretary (prosecution) for allegedly refusing to sign two cabinet notes. In a letter to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the bureaucrats said the officers had been suspended “illegally.” An official from the ministry said they had not received any letter from the civil servants yet, but clarified that the Delhi government did not have the authority to suspend IAS and DANICS officers.

This mass leave on Thursday will affect a coordination meeting scheduled to finalise last-minute details for the trial period of the odd-even policy. Of the over 200 DANICS officials in Delhi, a majority of them are sub-divisional magistrates and additional district magistrates. Sub-divisional magistrates have been given the task of supervising civil defence volunteers and ensuring that those violating the policy are penalised.