Complaints closed

312 IAS officers named in complaints in 2 yrs,probes against a quarter closed

Between January 2009 and November 2011,the Department of Personnel and Training and various state governments had between them initiated inquiries against 312 IAS officers over various charges,The inquiries against 86 were either closed or have led to action being dropped or to exoneration,according to information received from the DoPT under the RTI Act.

The DoPT had initiated 391 cases against the 312 officers. Of these,75 cases against 72 officers were closed,nearly a dozen officers had action dropped,and two cases saw the officers exonerated. Till the end of 2011,32 officers had been suspended with most reinstated later,while 42 cases of corruption were pending,with most of these officers booked by the CBI.

Disciplinary action against an IAS officer is the responsibility of the department/state government where he has been posted. Says a DoPT official,Often state governments have ego problems with the Centre and sit on our recommendations of disciplinary action.

Some of the officers against whom inquiries were closed:

Nutan Guha Biswas,a 1983 batch IAS officer of the UT cadre,was booked for allotting land in a Noida SEZ at nominal rates. Following the commerce ministry8217;s advice,the DoPT found no valid ground to initiate disciplinary action.

Sunil Kumar 1979,Chattisgarh cadre and now the states chief secretary was named in a complaint for appointing his wife as a professor and getting his daughter admitted to MBBS. The complaint was found pseudonymous.

Gauri Kumar 1979,Gujarat was accused of diverting a grant of Rs 20 crore in a complaint by former NIFT director Kalpana Swami and others. The officer denied the allegations, said the DoPT.

Hage Khoda 1992,UT had allegedly abused and threatened an officer at Pawan Hans Helicopters. The DoPT forwarded the complaint to the MHA,which after seven reminders submitted the officer8217;s comments,leading to a closure.

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Surjit Chaudhary 1980,Tamil Nadu was accused of amassing assets by misusing his official position. The ADGP Intelligence carried out a discreet inquiry and recommended action. The state government had the matter probed by a committee of IAS officers who recommended the action be dropped.

T N Ramnathan 1991 was named by M Gurulakshmana,a Customs and Central Excise Service officer,as having amassed assets by misusing tsunami relief. The state government found the complaint baseless.

Swarn Singh Channy 1982,Punjab had visited Taiwan in September 2009 and then MEA secretary Nirupama Rao wrote to the chief secretary and DoPT that India does not have diplomatic or official relations with Taiwan. She expected strict action against the officer. After views were exchanged,the DoPT closed the case in July 2010 in view of Channy8217;s explanation. Says Channy,now principal secretary for industries in Punjab,The central government was convinced with the decision of the state government.

Ashok Kumar 1974,UT faced a complaint about making money through promotions of subordinates.

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Naresh Kumar 1987,UT was named for earning crores by transferring over 200 employees.

Rajinderpal Singh 1976,Andhra Pradesh,who was CMD of Punjab and Sind Bank,was named for protecting an officer in a Rs 1 crore fraud

K R B H N Chakravarty 2001,Andhra Pradesh faced a complaint of irregularities in Freedom Fighters Pension when he was a district revenue officer,and one of violation of land acquisition act as a collector.

Arbind Prasad 1980,Bihar was named for withholding grants-in-aid to projects for disabled children and harassing NGOs while in Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

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Subrat Sahoo 1992,Chhattisgarh had been chargesheeted for alleged irregularities while he was posted as MD,state marketing federation; the matter was eventually closed.

Vineet Joshi 1992,Manipur-Tripura was named for functioning against CBSE principles while posted as its CVO and chairman.