On Saturday, May 20, the Delhi Lieutenant Governor (LG) House officials said that they have received complaints from eight officers from All India Services alleging ‘blatant harassment’ by the CM Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government and the AAP government in Punjab. The complainants have alleged that the AAP governments in Delhi and Punjab started hounding them and their family members in retaliation to action taken against party members and leaders.
According to authorities in the LG Office, two complaints were received earlier this year, while six were received since May 11, when the Supreme Court granted the Delhi government authority over all service matters except police, land, and public order. The officers who sent the complaints include 5 IAS officers, 1 IPS and 1 IRS officer. Two of the officers belonging to Punjb have said that they and their families are being hounded by the Punjab Police, where AAP is in power.
Among the officials alleging harassment at the hands of AAP leaders is Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar, who accused Services Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj of misbehaviour and intimidation against department officers. On Friday, Bharadwaj, on his part, filed a police report accusing Kumar of making death threats to him on May 16. Police have stated that they are investigating the matter.
Naresh Kumar, on the other hand, claimed in a letter to the LG that Bharadwaj made the claims to protect himself from his alleged wrongdoing with service department officers. It is notable that the Delhi govt is attempting to remove Naresh Kumar from his post of chief secretary. The govt has asked the centre to replace him with IAS officer Praveen Kumar Gupta, currently posted as Additional Chief Secretary in Delhi government.
According to L-G House officials, IAS officers Ashish More and Kinny Singh, both posted in the Services Department, have accused Bharadwaj of using demeaning language against them and forcing them to sign a document they did not want to sign. They added that Amitabh Joshi, another department official, was also intimidated.
Another complainant is YVVJ Rajasekhar, Special Secretary (Vigilance), who claims “a coordinated effort to defame” him and remove him from his position so that alleged scams involving the Delhi government cannot be probed.
Furthermore, LG Office officials said that an attempt was made to intimidate Delhi’s power secretary Shurbir Singh through Punjab Police. In response to this harassment, Singh moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court, according to the officials. According to LG Office insiders, IPS officer and anti-corruption branch chief Madhur Verma, who is also from Punjab, was also “hounded” by the Punjab Police.
Two other officers who have alleged harassment by AAP leaders are Kunal Kashyap, IRS officer and chief assessor and collector in the house tax department of the MCD, and Amitabh Joshi, ad-hoc DANICS officer and deputy secretary in the services department.
Meanwhile, the Delhi government in a statement has called the complaints ‘fake’ and accused the L-G of playing ‘dirty’ politics.
The complaints regarding the alleged harassment of the IAS officers will be forwarded by the Delhi L-G to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) as MHA is their cadre controlling authority. The L-G House officials reportedly said that the likely outcome of these complaints being forwarded to the MHA will be the launching of inquiries against accused AAP leaders.
