NEW DELHI/LUCKNOW, Aug 5: A defiant Samajwadi Party (SP) today appeared heading for a confrontation with the Centre over the IAS officer’s suspension issue, asserting that UP government’s decision is “correct and final” and went a step further taunting it to remove all IAS officers from the state.
Firing the first salvo, SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav said the decision to suspend IAS officer Durga Sakthi Nagpal, who hit the spotlight for cracking down on the sand mafia, is justified.
“It is correct. It is final,” he told reporters outside Parliament House with a firm “no” on being asked whether the suspension order would be revoked.
Amid the brewing hostility between the SP and the Centre over the suspension issue, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Government is in touch with the state authorities on the issue and that laid down rules will be followed.
The unrelenting stand of the ruling SP government was also voiced in Lucknow by Chief Minister Akhjilesh Yadav who made it clear that officials who make “mistakes” will be punished.
“There might be many children (sitting here) who I can say would have received a beating from their teachers and parents when they had done something wrong…. The government is also run like this, whenever any official does something wrong he is punished”, Akhilesh, who has justified the suspension of Nagpal, a 2010-batch officer, said at a function.
In Delhi, SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav struck a defiant note. “If the Centre wants to intervene, it can remove all the IAS officers from Uttar Pradesh. We will run the state with our own officers,” he said.
Minister of State for Personnel V Narayanasamy said that under the rules, the suspended officer has the right to appeal.
“She has not approached us so far. But if she sends her appeal to us, we will send its copy to the state government and seek its response. Then we will decide the future course of action. Normally, an officer approaches the state government… We cannot act suo moto,” he said.
Nagpal, the 28-year-old SDM of Gautam Budh Nagar, who led the crackdown on sand mining mafia in her district, was suspended on July 27 ostensibly for ordering demolition of a wall of a under-construction mosque allegedly without following the due process. Nagpal, who belongs to the UP cadre, was chargesheeted on Sunday.
Asked about the suspension issue outside Parliament, the Prime Minister said, “We are in touch with the state government to find out the full details of the issue.”
“There are rules laid down and the rules will be followed,” he said.
Official sources said Centre is examining a report sent to it by the UP government on the suspension issue.
A report carrying details of the suspension has been received by the Ministry of Personnel, which is the nodal authority for administrative matters related to Indian Administrative Service (IAS), they said.
The report was sent after the Centre issued three letters to the state government and a week after the officer was suspended.
The Centre had yesterday asked the UP government to immediately give a report on the suspension of Nagpal, who had cracked down on sand mafia in Gautam Budh Nagar area.
Minister of State for Personnel V Narayanasamy said this is the third such letter sent to the state government after she was suspended on July 27.
The Centre’s fresh reminder came in the backdrop of Sonia Gandhi, who is Chairperson of National Advisory Council (NAC), writing a letter to the Prime Minister, saying that Nagpal should not be “unfairly treated”.
As per rules, an officer gets a maximum of ten days to respond on charges levelled against him or her.
At another function at the Samajwadi Party office in Lucknow, the Chief Minister justified the decision to suspend Nagpal, saying a number of SDMs have been suspended in the country and asked why such a hue and cry was being raised on such action in UP.
“A number of SDMs might have been suspended in the country..But why hue and cry is being raised on suspension in the state..Media is after my government,” Akhilesh said.
Akhilesh said in the previous Mayawati regime, an IAS officer had committed suicide and they (IAS officers) used to visit CM’s office after removing shoes.
SP’s arch rival and BSP supremo Mayawati used the suspension row to lash out at the state government. “A lot of injustice has been done to the IAS officer who has been suspended and chargesheeted,” she said.
“There is no law and order in the state. Instead, it is ruled by mafia and anti-social elements….It has drastically failed in matters of law and order,” she said. (PTI)
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