Minister forced to resign for assaulting IAS official

In the meanwhile, the Ashok Nagar police station here registered a case under sections 341, 323, 332, 353 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code against Bhati and two others on the complaint of Deb. A medical examination of Deb had revealed a fracture in the left thumb-bone besides injuries on the forehead, left temple and feet.

Bhati, in the meanwhile, went underground, fearing his arrest. Telephone calls to his residence yielded only an engaged tone, with the receiver having been, apparently, put aside.

While Chief Minister preferred to remain silent on the entire episode, Deputy Chief Minister Hari Shankar Bhabhra described it as “unfortunate.” “It was unbecoming of a minister to have beaten someone,” he said.

A three-member cabinet sub-committee, comprising Bhadhra and two other ministers, had been asked by Shekhawat to hear Bhati and Deb and then suggest a course of action to him. The committee summoned Bhati and Deb separately last evening. Deb, accompanied by Chief Minister’s Principal Secretary Sunil Arora, gave an account of the incident to the ministers, and so did Bhati. Bhabhra told The Indian Express today that Bhati denied having assaulted Deb.

However, he told the ministers that Deb maintained a “defiant” attitude towards him. He was critical of the language of his notes, including the one pertaining to Bharati Construction Company, which led to the assault. Bhabhra said he told Bhati that even such a note had to be responded with a note and not an assault. The hearing over, the ministers told Bhati to resign and informed the Chief Minister of their conclusion accordingly.

The entire IAS top-brass was agitated over the issue and with the ministerial sub-committee also going against Bhati, his fate had been sealed.

Deb said that he was given a message that the minister wanted him to come over to his chamber. This was between 3.05 and 3.15 p.m. He quickly finished his food and went to Bhati’s chamber, where two others, unknown to him, were sitting. Thereafter, Bhati started inquiring about the case of Bharati Construction Company. He said that he told Bhati that the said firm had been blacklisted, which was known to him too. Before he could complete his contention, Bhati started abusing and hitting him.

The other two men also joined him. When he tried to get out, they surrounded him and threw him on the ground. All three, according to Deb, slapped, punched and kicked him. The beating lasted 10 minutes. Deb said that he had received reports of grows irregularities by Bharati Construction Company in the contracts awarded to it in the Bisalpur and Narmada projects. Bhati had turned against him ever since he had pointed these out.