Expedite FCS&CA scam inquiry

Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department is plagued with scams, financial irregularities, misappropriation of funds, and other ills about which we continuously keep writing with intent to not only punish the erring and corrupt officials appropriately but subject this department to face frequent audits and surprise inspections and the reports thereof to be treated as most urgent documents needing fast resolution so that this department is virtually cleansed and revamped to deliver and perform. It is shocking and otherwise unbelievable that officials of proven doubtful integrity and the ones having surely burnt their fingers by perpetrating financial irregularities, continue to be not only unpunished but some of them are even “rewarded” with important postings.
‘Excelsior’ has already published the names of the known accused officials of the department involved in committing frauds and misappropriating public funds in its edition of 23rd instant against whom, despite an FIR having been registered in the year 2006 by the then State Vigilance Organisation (presently Anti Corruption Bureau) after it being established that prima-facie their involvement was there in expropriating public funds by grossly abusing their official position , nothing concrete has happened. Departmental enquiry, if any, against the accused officials appears only on papers. The golden rule applicable to cases , even suspected ones, involving looting public funds is to immediately remove the accused officials from that department so as to protect and guard papers, files, records, attendance registers, etc pertaining to the fraud . This could be done by immediately putting their services under suspension or at least transferring them to a far off place followed by enquiries with brief to submit report within a short period depending upon the severity of the fraud.
An FIR registered against nine officials in 2006 had to be immediately followed by the process of prosecuting them but it can happen perhaps only in Jammu and Kashmir that the sanction for it was accorded by the General Administration Department in January 2018 only. On the other hand, the FIR did not fructify into a concrete shape by filing challan and charge sheet against the accused in the court.
The result of all these lengthy and flexible procedures employed to deal with thieving of public funds and absence of a resolute will power by the administration has not only emboldened the spirits of the corrupt officials but further delayed , deferred and prolonged the process of action even by ordering departmental enquiry by Secretary to the Government in June 2018. It is amusing to note that the inquiry officer who was appointed to undertake the task and submit report within a fortnight, refused to do it on the ground that one of the accused was senior to him in service. Is there any rule or law or even a procedural practice where a senior official misappropriates public funds and an official junior in service to him, otherwise asked by higher authorities to inquire and submit report on the case, could refuse and the higher authorities agreeing to this absurd plea?
While even the interim staying orders obtained by some of the accused have not been got vacated or modified so far, what we feel is that there appeared enough room for speculations and apprehensions of varied hue. It also is talked about that perhaps the ‘current ‘ of the flow of the booty may be going farther than is imagined and that is why such a multi pronged wilful and deliberate dilly -dallying approach is adopted and the accused officials are enjoying freedom, service and salary, perks and postings while loot of public funds, it is feared, is getting legitimatised. Why have, on umpteen occasions, been pleading for deterrent punishment against corrupt officials wherever they were found for which the administration needed to go whole hog otherwise God alone could save departments and offices like the Food and Supplies Department in Jammu and Kashmir.

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