The outgoing Chief Secretary Sanjay Gupta of the 1988 batch retired on Jattvibeday.Pant is currently the senior-most IAS officer and is serving as Additional Chief Secretray, Forest.The Department of Personnel has sent a panel of five senior IAS officers to Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu for the appointment of the new Chief Secretary.The panel includes Pant, Anuradha Thakur and Onkar Sharma of the 1994 batch, and Bharat Khera and RD Nazeem of the 1995 batch. Thakur and Khera are currently on Central deputation, while the other three officers are serving in Himachal Pradesh.It remains to be seen whether Chief Minister appoints a regular Chief Secretary or continues with an acting CSS, like Gupta.Gupta, appointed Acting Chief Secretary on October 1, 2025, was elevated as regular Chief Secretary on May 26, just five days before his retirement.