Centre to give National Capital Civil Service Authority more teeth; 8 Central cadre officers allege harassment by AAP leaders
According to a senior government official, the ordinance would be supplemented by an additional notification, an order or a circular expected to be issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs early next week.
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The L-G House officials said the Secretariat has received complaints from bureaucrats alleging intimidation at the hands of AAP leaders. (File) Though it came into existence “at once” following the promulgation of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023 Friday, the National Capital Civil Service Authority – which now has the power to recommend the transfer and posting of all officers from All India Services serving in Delhi as well as vigilance matters related to them – will require a few more “enabling provisions” from the Centre, government sources said.
According to a senior government official, the ordinance would be supplemented by an additional notification, an order or a circular expected to be issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) early next week. “Though the Authority has already come into existence after its promulgation, the MHA is now likely to, through the office of the Lieutenant Governor (L-G), supplement the ordinance further by one means or another available to it,” the official said. “The ordinance has just provided a basic structure with regard to the Authority, that is, who is a part of it and who it has jurisdiction over; other particulars related to its functioning – such as when its first meeting will be held, how often it will meet etc – these particulars will be taken care of as per enabling provisions from the Centre in general,” another senior official said.
‘Blatant harassment’
Meanwhile, L-G House officials said the L-G Secretariat had received complaints from eight All India Services officials alleging “blatant harassment” at the hands of AAP leaders. Among these are Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar, who alleged misconduct and intimidation by Services Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj against officers in the department. Bharadwaj, for his part, has submitted a complaint to police accusing Kumar of issuing death threats to him. Police said they are looking into the matter.
IAS officers Ashish More and Kinny Singh – both posted in the Services Department – have alleged Bharadwaj used derogatory language against them and forced them to sign a document they did not want to, L-G House officials said. They said that Amitabh Joshi, another officer from the department, was also intimidated.
Another name on the list of complainants is YVVJ Rajasekhar, the Special Secretary (Vigilance) who has alleged “a coordinated effort to defame” him and to strip him of his portfolio so that alleged scams pertaining to the Delhi government couldn’t be investigated.
The Delhi government, in an official statement, said, “It’s an absolutely fake complaint. The L-G is indulging in dirty politics to divert attention from the public uproar against the Central government’s direct attack on the judiciary by reversing a Supreme Court Constitution bench order through an ordinance,” it stated.
Sources said the complaints were in the process of being forwarded to the competent authority in each case.
“Regarding the instances of alleged harassment or intimidation of IAS officers — since their cadre controlling authority is the MHA, these will be sent by the competent authority, which in this case is the Delhi L-G, to the former for further action,” an official aware of developments in this regard said.
“The likely outcome of the forwarding of these complaints to the MHA is the launching of inquiries by the ministry against the accused individuals who, with regard to the instances sent to the L-G Secretariat in this case, happen to be AAP leaders – including ministers,” the official added.
According to L-G House officials, two more officers have alleged harassment by AAP leaders in Punjab.
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