New Delhi: Furious IAS officers protest against Durga Shakti Nagpal’s suspension

TNN

New Delhi, 02 August 2013: The resentment in the bureaucracy over the controversial suspension ofIAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal has escalated into an extraordinary nationwide protest. On Thursday, thousands of officers belonging to theCentral services came out against the unfair treatment meted out to a young, honest bureaucrat who had dared to take on the sand mining mafia.

 

In a petition to the department of personnel and training (DoPT), the officers, under the banner of Central Civil & Administrative Officers Association, demanded that the Central government should immediately intervene and direct the UP government to revoke Durga’s suspension. If the state government didn’t do so, the officers said the Centre should use its authority to revoke the suspension.

They also demanded adequate safeguards in the All India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1969, regarding suspension so that no irreparable loss and injustice is caused to officers, "which is sine-qua-non to maintain uprightness, honesty and integrity of the members of the (IAS) service and last but not the least the morale of the members of the service to serve the public at large following the law of the land."

This rare act of solidarity with the victimized officer has given the issue a national dimension. Already there’s outrage among people who believe that Durga was suspended for taking on a powerful vested interest, the sand mining mafia, and not for the reason proffered by the UP government - that she had created communal tension by ordering the demolition wall of a religious structure in the area.

 

A day after TOI reported that the reason cited by the UP government justification of its action -- "threat to communal peace" -- was a fake alibi, the officers came together to tear apart the state government’s version. They clarified in a petition to the Union minister of personnel that she was only enforcing the law that empowered the district administration to prevent illegal structures, including religious ones, to come up on public land, but was targeted for trying to stop illegal sand mining.

"Her enforcement of law was apparently creating problems for the vested interests of the district which used the opportunity in a slimy and malicious manner and in the garb of creating communal tension got the officer illegally suspended. If one looks into the so called reason for suspension, it would be clear the officer is totally on the right side of the law," the officers argued in their petition.

"The suspension order...was issued in haste without following the due process of law as mentioned in the All India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1969," the petition pointed out. "Needless to say, suspension of Durga Shakti has led to lot of anguish and annoyance among the IAS officers across the country," it added.

While UP on Thursday continued its brazenness and justified its decision to suspend Durga, the Centre responded to the IAS officers’ outrage by seeking a status report from Uttar Pradesh government on the suspension. However, it is still waiting for the aggrieved officer to file an appeal with DoPT against the suspension order.

"Minister of state for personnel V Narayanasamy has asked for a status report from the UP chief secretary on the officer’s suspension, based on the version of circumstances leading to her suspension presented by here fellow officers. As and when the report is furnished by the state government and the officer files an appeal, we can intervene to review her suspension," a senior DoPT functionary told TOI.

Meanwhile, sources close to Durga disclosed that she had met chief secretary Javed Usmani on Wednesday to seek revoking of her suspension on the ground that she had neither flouted any rules nor unilaterally issued "orders" to demolish an illegal religious structure built on public land. However, with indications that Durga may be chargesheeted, sources close to her said she may approach the Centre soon.