HC pulls up Haryana govt

The Haryana government today received a dressing down from the Punjab and Haryana High Court for making exceptions in saving “corrupt public servants”. During the resumed hearing on the public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Advocate HC Arora,a division bench comprising acting Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Augustine George Masih came down heavily on the State for issuing circulars dated April 13,1972 and of January 24,1990.

Vide these circulars,the Haryana Government had restrained the officers of the Vigilance Bureau from laying traps for catching corrupt employees red-handed,unless prior permission is obtained by the Vigilance Bureau from Deputy Commissioner concerned (in case of non-gazetted employees working in the field offices),and that of Head of Department (in case of employees posted at State headquarters) and that of the concerned administrative secretary (for gazetted Group-B employees),and from Chief Secretary (in case of IAS/IPS/HCS staff etc).

The petitioner,who appeared in person argued that in the process of getting prior permission from the designated authorities,the information regarding impending raids is leaked out to concerned public servants leading to failure of such raids.