New Delhi: Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has denied sharing information to controversial IPS Officer Amitabh Thakur regarding his compulsory retirement, saying "it cannot be provided".
The MHA has denied the information under section 8(1)(i) of the RTI Act, 2005.
Disagreeing with the decision, Amitabh Thakur has preferred first appeal saying that decision has already been made in this case and hence denial under section 8(1)(i) is not correct, said Nutan Thakur, wife of the former IPS officer.
"Amitabh also called denial of information related with his livelihood as being against the basic spirit of the RTI Act," Nutan told IANS on phone.
Thakur got the reply in Hindi from the MHA on April 26 against his three questions sought from the Ministry through RTI. The former IPS had also submitted the RTI query in Hindi.
The Home Ministry officials refused to comment over the issue when asked and said that they are not aware about any RTI reply to Amitabh Thakur.
Following the decision taken by the MHA, 1992-batch Uttar Pradesh cadre IPS officer Amitabh Thakur was given compulsory retirement on March 23 this year along with two others.
Thakur was given premature retirement from his service after terming him "not fit".
Also read: SC reserves order on Election Commission's plea against Madras HC remarks
Once suspended by Uttar Pradesh government in 2015 after he accused Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav of "threatening" him, the MHA on March 17 ordered him to retire.
The order copy was sent to the Uttar Pradesh government where Thakur was then posted as an Inspector General of Police.
Thakur was given retirement orders even before the completion of his service with immediate effect in the public interest.
"In the public interest, Amitabh Thakur is being given premature retirement before completion of his service with immediate effect," the Home Ministry order had said.
As per the order, Thakur was "not found fit to be retained for the remaining tenure of his service".
Thakur then took to Twitter to inform that he had been given a compulsory retirement by the Home Ministry. He further shared that he had just received the VRS order, stating that the government no longer needs his services and hence given a premature retirement.
In 2017, Thakur had urged the Centre to dispose of his request for change of cadre, saying the "bias" against him does not exist anymore following the Samajwadi Party's rout in the polls.
He had earlier sent an application to the Ministry of Home Affairs for a change of cadre from Uttar Pradesh to any other state, citing a threat to his life.
In a letter to the Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Thakur said: "I had sought cadre change in view of serious threat to my life and family after Mulayam Singh's phone call."
Also read: Media cannot be stopped from reporting oral observations made by judges during course of hearing: SC
He was suspended on July 13, 2015, days after he had accused Mulayam Singh of threatening him. The state government had then initiated a vigilance inquiry against him. However, the Lucknow Bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal had stayed the suspension of Thakur in April and ordered his reinstatement with full salary with effect from October 11, 2015.
Thakur had urged the Centre to transfer him to some other state till the departmental inquiries against him got over, accusing some senior state government officials.
IANS
