CHENNAI, Dec 27: Sacked Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary P Rama Mohana Rao today claimed he still continues to hold the post, saying no transfer order had been served on him and described the Income Tax raids at his premises here as a “constitutional assault” on the top office.
Rao also denied having any links with arrested sand mining baron Shekher Reddy.
A combative Rao, who claimed the I-T search warrant did not have his name, repeatedly invoked the legacy of former Chief Minister, the late J Jayalalithaa, and asked if raids would have occurred at his office had she been alive.
Addressing a packed press conference at his Anna Nagar residence, where the tax men swooped down early morning last week, he said all they could find was Rs 1,12,320 in cash, 40 to 50 sovereigns of gold “on person” of his wife and daughter and 20-25 kg of silver articles, including idols of gods.
No incriminating documents were found from there, he claimed.
“I was under house arrest by CRPF. It is a constitutional assault on the office of Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu. I was Chief Secretary, I am the Chief Secretary. This government has no guts to serve the copy of the transfer order to me. I claim I still am the Chief Secretary appointed by Puratchi Thalaivi Amma (Jayalalithaa)”, he said.
Rao, who thanked West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi, besides some AIADMK leaders, asked if Income Tax authorities had obtained permission from Chief Minister O Panneerselvam to conduct searches, especially at his office.
“And what is the Chief Secretary’s chamber— it is the secrets of various Chief Ministers, their decisions, their orders and confidential reports, criminal cases filed against ministers, IPS and IAS officers.
“What did they find— my MRC club membership which I never visited and some loose sheets…. Is it not a constitutional violation? Is it not a constitutional assault? Where is the state government…If honourable Madam (Jayalalithaa) was alive would anybody have the guts to enter the state secretariat,” he said.
The former Chief Secretary said even his son, the target of I-T raids, was not living with him ever since his return from the U.S.
“I am being targeted. My life is in danger,” he claimed, adding he has no business links with Reddy.
“I have thousands of friends in Tamil Nadu…I have nothing to do with Reddy or his business. He may be a businessman, known to me. I have been in Tamil Nadu for 31 years,” he said.
Rao alleged that “there is no security in Tamil Nadu” in the absence of Jayalalithaa.
Rao, who insisted he was Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu,
said his replacement, Girija Vaidyanathan “perhaps is made in-charge.”
He said he was not aware if the Tax authorities or CRPF had obtained permission from the state government to raid his chamber at the state Secretariat.
“They should have called the Home Secretary, who is the custodian of police. Public Department (a portfolio held by Panneerselvam) is the custodian of various government offices. Did they get the Chief Minister’s permission to enter my room?,” he asked.
“The (Union) Home Minister could have just informed the Chief Minister” in this regard so that he could be shifted out of his post to allow searches at his premises, Rao said.
“If Madam (Jayalalithaa) had been alive would this have happened… For 75 days I was protecting madam,” he said in an apparent reference to her hospitalisation before she passed away on December 5.
He said the manner in which he handled her funeral and later Cyclone Vardah was “evidence” of his “efficiency”.
“What they wanted to do is attack the office of the Chief Secretary. People should know there is no security,” he said.
Rao, who repeatedly took the name of Jayalalithaa, said he had been trained by her, not just in the recent past, but since 1991 when he was Collector of then Chengalpet.
“I follow the footsteps of Madam. I followed whatever she said. In the absence of Madam, there is no security,” in the state, he alleged.
He said he would “continue to serve the people.”(PTI)
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