Mumbai: Dismissed IB official accuses seniors of caste harassment

At the time, Babu was already facing a departmental enquiry for alleged insubordination while approaching seniors on two matters, the absence of proper sanitation facilities for 60 officials working at the departures section of immigration and his request for fresh residential quarters after local miscreants twice targeted his Antop Hill flat. His complaint says that in May 2017, in response to his written requests for better toilet facilities, Joint Deputy Director H K Pathak summoned him and said during the course of the conversation, “Tum logo ka dimaag toilet mein rehta kya?” In March 2018, his complaint says, in response to his requests to be relocated in different staff quarters, Pathak reportedly made a disparaging comment about the safety of Babu’s wife.

At the departmental enquiry for insubordination at the BKC office on March 14, only a few days after his protest remark regarding the gift packets, he says Pathak referred to him as ‘achut’ (untouchable) and allegedly slapped him. According to his complaint, he approached the BKC police station where an officer refused to register a First Information Report. Pathak reportedly arrived at the police station about 30 minutes later and registered a complaint against Babu alleging that the latter had assaulted him. Police filed a chargesheet in that matter on August 20, 2019.

According to Babu, the same five witnesses have made contrasting submissions in the police chargesheet and in the departmental enquiry chargesheet. Based on this, he has accused the witnesses of fabricating evidence and has demanded an FIR against them under the Prevention of Atrocities Act. Senior Police Inspector Pradeep Kadam of BKC police station confirmed receiving Babu’s fresh complaint letter on September 30. “I have asked for the matter to be investigated and a report submitted to me after which the next course of action will be decided,” Kadam said.

Despite repeated attempts to contact Pathak, including by phone and email, the officer remained unavailable to respond to the allegations. Speaking to The Indian Express, Babu said he has also written to Union Minister for Social Justice Ramdas Athawale, the National Commission for SC/STs and others. Babu says his father was engaged in manual scavenging before getting a job as a municipal staffer. Babu himself is enrolled for a PhD and was a teacher before he applied for the IB recruitment.

On Wednesday, Babu wrote to the Prime Minister’s Office via email, saying his original grievances at the workplace had been inspired by the Swachh Bharat Mission and the government’s anti-corruption slogans. “However in doing so I only experienced physical, mental, psychological, emotional atrocity, monetary harm and criminal conspiracy resulting into dismissal from government service,” he wrote.