Gujarat IAS, IPS officers under cloud

In the Sumangalam case, IPS and IAS officers — supposed to uphold the law of the land — have been accused of filing false affidavits, misusing their powers to allot themselves land and other irregularities. IAS officers who are members of the society include S Jagdeesan, now on deputation to the Union Ministry of Industries, C J Jose, I P Gautam, M Sahu, B J Jha, S N Sinha, H K Khan, A Prasad, Varesh Sinha, H M Shah, L Mansingh, O Ravi, SK Mahapatra and R K Tripathi. The IPS officers include K S Chaturvedi, ironically the director of Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), R D Tamhney, M S Gauri Kumar, G C Raigar, K V Harihardas, M M Shrivastava and D J Pandian.

The Sumangalam Co-operative Society comprises 54 IAS and IPS officers, both serving and retired. These include Chief Secretary L N S Mukundan, former Chief Secretaries H K Khan and K V Harihardas, DDA vice-chairman P K Ghosh, former DGPs K V Joseph and S N Sinha, and several officers of the rank of principal secretary and additional chief secretary.

In fact, during case proceedings the Gujarat High Court observed that such high-ranking officers were expected to set an example for others to emulate and act in accordance with the law, but they had acted contrary to it.

Even before the uproar that ensued had died, the CBI seized a bunch of classified topographical maps passed on to a private electronics company by the Forest Department without the Union Defence Ministry’s permission. Principal Secretary (Forests and Environment) Prabir Basu was immediately shifted to Revenue Department for his alleged role in withdrawing the contract for digitalising sensitive maps from a government agency and giving it to a private firm.

As IAS controversies thickened, P K Jha, Superintendent of Police, Western Railway, Vadodara, hit the headlines after a brawl in a Patna hotel. The IPS officer, who wears integrity and uprighteousness on his epaulettes, ended in a lock-up overnight. The State Government is contemplating action against him for “behaviour that is unbecoming of an IPS officer.”

The list gets longer. Last year, Gandhinagar Superintendent of Police, D S Yadav was placed under suspension for his role in handling the kidnapping of a three-year-old girl from Gandhinagar. Meanwhile, a case is pending against Sanjeev Bhatt for his role in the kidnapping of a lawyer from Pali in Rajasthan while he was SP, Banaskantha. Earlier, M Sekar, IPS, was suspended after allegations that he “deliberately did not take action against some accused while on deputation to the CBI.” Vijaysinh Parmar, IAS and former Managing Director of the Gujarat Civil Supplies Corporation, was suspended in 1998 for his involvement in the purchase of adulterated oil for the mid-day meal scheme.

Speaking to The Indian Express, State Vigilance Commissioner V R S Cowlagi says action against officers involved in the Sumangalam case will be considered after the case is over in the Gujarat High Court. “Some issues have been identified by the court, based on what are the illegal acts these officers indulged in. After the case is over, we can consider taking action,” he said. Cowlagi added inquiries against some other officers who were on the board of directors of the Gujarat Industrial Investment Corporation, which invested about Rs 30 crore in the scam-tainted CRB Capital and have been pulled up by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) “were pending.”