Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS) general manager Othman Omar and executive secretary Norita Mohd Sidek have been temporarily transferred to the State Secretary's Office.

Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said the move was to enable state secretary Datuk Muhammad Khusrin Munawi to carry out an internal investigation into Parti Keadilan Rakyat deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali's dismissal from the PKNS board of directors.

"Conducting a thorough investigation while both are still based at the PKNS would be complicated. So the state secretary has issued a directive to the two officers to be temporarily based at his office beginning today," he said.

"This is because they are civil servants and any action should be done according to the public service regulations," he said in a statement on Monday.

Abdul Khalid said one of the elements to be investigated was how the dismissal letter was issued by Othman without his knowledge as PKNS chairman.

On Mohamed Azmin's position, he said the dismissal on the Bukit Antarabangsa state assemblyman by the general manager on Jan 8 was maintained, to avoid any legal complication.

A news portal reported that Mohamed Azmin received a letter dismissing him as a member of the PKNS board of directors on Jan 8.

The move was objected to by many PKR leaders including its adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

However, Abdul Khalid said after an exco meeting last week that the decision to drop Mohamed Azmin was made by the general manager, with the executive committee only assenting to it.

The menteri besar's statement was dismissed by Norita who said the power to appoint the members lay in the hands of the state executive council chaired by Abdul Khalid and not Othman, in line with Clause 4(1) of the PKNS Enactment.

Norita said Mohamed Azmin's dismissal was also endorsed by the state executive council last December.