Retired IAS officers Amit Kashyap and Vidur Mehta appointed as members
Shimla — The Himachal Pradesh government has appointed former Chief Secretary and current Chief Information Commissioner, R.D. Dhiman, as the Chairman of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA). Retired IAS officer Amit Kashyap has also been appointed as a member of the authority, completing the long-pending appointments along with Vidur Mehta, who was named a member earlier this month.
The appointments were officially notified by Principal Secretary of Urban Development, Devesh Kumar, on Tuesday — just a day before a High Court hearing regarding the delay in these very appointments and the extension granted to the current Chief Secretary.
The move comes after the Himachal Pradesh High Court had expressed strong displeasure over the delay in filling the RERA Chairman’s post. On June 20, the court imposed a cost of ₹5 lakh on the state government, calling out its inaction in the matter. The post had remained vacant since the retirement of former RERA Chairman Shrikant Baldi on December 31, 2024. In the interim, Principal Secretary Devesh Kumar was handling the additional charge of the post.
Over 20 senior officers had applied for the position of Chairman and Members of RERA after the government issued a call for applications. The list of eligible candidates was forwarded to the committee headed by the Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court. Interviews were held in March 2025, and a panel of recommended candidates was submitted to the government.
Interestingly, the current Chief Secretary, Prabodh Saxena was also among the applicants for the RERA Chairman’s post, as he was slated to retire on March 31. However, the committee did not recommend his name. Subsequently, the state sought and received a six-month extension for Saxena from the Central Department of Personnel.
With these latest appointments, the formation of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority is now complete, potentially providing much-needed regulatory clarity and oversight in the state’s real estate sector.
The High Court is scheduled to hear the matter related to the Chief Secretary’s extension and the RERA appointments today.
