The Centre on Tuesday extended the tenure of Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar for three months, reported PTI.

Kumar was due to retire on May 31.

In November, Kumar’s tenure was extended by six months after the Supreme Court allowed the Centre to do so.

The order had come in response to a plea by the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi challenging the extension.

The Delhi government had opposed extending Kumar’s tenure as there was an “absolute breach of communication, trust and faith of any kind between the chief secretary and the Delhi government”.

Kumar has been at loggerheads with the Aam Aadmi Party government since his appointment in April 2022.

In July 2022, Kumar submitted a report to the office of Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena, in which he alleged procedural lapses in the implementation of the now-scrapped liquor policy.

Based on the report, Saxena had written to the Ministry of Home Affairs, recommending an inquiry into the allegations by the Central Bureau of Investigation. This paved the way for an inquiry by the central agency, leading to the arrest of three Aam Aadmi Party leaders, including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

The Central Bureau of Investigation registered a case into the allegations in August 2022 and raided 21 locations in Delhi, including the house of former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. Based on the findings, the Enforcement Directorate had filed a case of money laundering linked to the liquor policy in the same month.

Sisodia was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation in February 2023. On March 9, 2023, the Enforcement Directorate arrested him in the same case. He is in Delhi’s Tihar Jail.

Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh was arrested on October 4 after the Enforcement Directorate conducted searches at his home. The central agency had alleged that Singh played a key role in formulating and implementing the policy.

However, the Supreme Court ordered that Singh be released on bail while the trial is pending. This came after the Enforcement Directorate said the Aam Aadmi Party leader’s custody was no longer required.

Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate in the Delhi liquor policy case.

The Aam Aadmi Party national convener was released from Delhi’s Tihar jail on May 10 on interim bail granted by the Supreme Court. The court has directed him to surrender on June 2, a day after voting for the Lok Sabha election ends.