Gautam Sen
Shah Faesal, the topper IAS officer of his 1999 batch, who had resigned from the service in January 2019 had also floated a political outfit, the J&K Peoples` Movement Party, and was jailed for nearly ten months for transgression of the law under Public Security Act, seems set to be accommodated back in the government. His appeal to Government of India to withdraw his resignation from the IAS has been accepted by the said government on 30th April 2022. The form of his adjustment is yet to be formally known. The implications also, are to be seen. The statements of Shah Faesal in the media, are however interesting. Faesal has recently tweeted that (apparently his actions), “Jan 2019 – Aug 2019__ creating so much baggage — leading him to lose everything , job, friends, reputation and public goodwill – and his idealism letting him down“. The Union and J&K Union Territory (UT) governments` final decision on his resignation has been pending over the past three years. Faesal`s accommodation in a Union government slot at New Delhi, seems on the anvil. The implications of decision regarding this officer will be noteworthy for the IAS, the Civil Services and public administration in general.
This sort of handling of a fairly senior public service officer, has never happened in the past. First of all, the process of arriving at a decision in this case has been unduly long, particularly in the context of the former State of Jammu & Kashmir`s (J&K) reorganization in 2019 when such a sensitive and service-morale impacting case should have been decided fast, with due consideration of existing service guidelines and J&K`s circumstances. The political backdrop after the conversion of the former full-fledged State to a UT, the reassigned administrative ambit of UT cadre of the IAS including the officers from the J&K cadre, and above all, the fallout of this episode on the UT`s youth, should have been given due cognizance and preponderance.
While the Union Government must have had its own reasons for such inordinately long delay in deciding on Faesal`s resignation, the officer`s statements also, do not seem to bode well for prospective IAS or Civil Services officers in general, on public service norms they are expected to follow. Juxtaposing convictions of the officers vis-à-vis the service norms and conduct rules, seem to have become a matter of convenience now. The casualty has been public spirit and morale of the youth of the region. It is only expected that, the local youth will be confirmed in their belief that, behaving in an unabashed opportunistic manner pays off. The norms of public service, already getting eroded, can be expected to be more undermined in the future. Viewed in a larger perspective, particularly in sensitive region as J&K, there are bound to be implications for integrity and security of the UT both by Faesal`s actions and the Union and UT government`s ultimate response in the matter.
In the fitness of things, Faesal should not have been resurrected in public service. The still young IAS officer, can serve the country inclusive of the UT of J&K, in various capacities outside the government, also. It is not necessary that he has to come back to the IAS. Accommodating Faesal as is being done now, will virtually be outside the constitutional framework of the Service and concomitant service rules in essence, spirit and the letter thereof. The words Faesal has used like “ his idealism letting him down“ are ominous and seem to indicate that, he entered the IAS with fallacious and convoluted notions, was not expected to have convictions and commitment to the Indian state and polity, and was lacking in capacity to decide where his convictions transgressed service norms and also the limitations he was expected to abide by while in public service. Selection of such an officer for the IAS at the recruitment stage itself, seems to have been inappropriate, when assessing his mental proclivities within the scope of his personality.
What is worrisome is that, when withdrawal of resignation is not permitted as per the statutory IAS Service Rules, Faesal is being taken back to public service despite his acts reflecting on his conduct and also ignoring the fact of his joining politics subsequently. The fact that, his resignation was kept by the Union Government in some sort of suspended animation, does not detract from essence of the Service Rules which clearly lay down red lines in these respects. If there are some reasons because of political compulsions which cannot be disclosed by the Governments in New Delhi and Srinagar, the prudent course should have been to re-employ Faesal as some adjunct to the political executive governing the state rather than in his former service or in some encadred post.
The impression conveyed outside to the public at large, should not be that, political activities indulged in by a regular officer of the topmost Civil Service was not acceptable earlier but is now acceptable, to attain some undisclosed objectives of the political executive. While the officers constituting the public services of the state may have their personal political views and convictions on matters of governance and state policies, it would be most inappropriate for them to articulate their views in public contrary to state decisions, and then subsequently so-called atone for their acts and get back to their positions in the administration. The Faesal case defacto denotes a subversion of the IAS cadre rules apropos the officer`s actions since 2019 and the state`s decision of late, virtually reinforcing each other towards eroding the framework and ethos of the IAS and Civil Services in general.
(The author is a retired Civil Service officer who served in J&K and in senior advisory capacity to Government of India and State Governments)
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