New Delhi: As many as eight officers posted in the Delhi government and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) have alleged "blatant harassment" by the Arvind Kejriwal government.
Despite the accusation, no immediate reaction was available from the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the national capital over the allegation of harassment of the officers. The officials at the Lieutenant Governor (LG) Office said two complaints were received earlier this year, while six were received after May 11, the day when the Supreme Court granted control of services matters, except police, land and public order, to the elected government in Delhi.
A Delhi government official said any reaction to the allegations can be provided only after going through the complaints if there are any. There was also no reaction immediately available from the officers who alleged they were harassed. Five IAS officers are among those who have complained against the AAP government. They are Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar, former services secretary Ashish More, special secretaries Kinny Singh and YVVJ Rajasekhar, and Power Secretary Shurbir Singh.
IPS officer and head of the anti-corruption branch, Madhur Verma, IRS officer and chief assessor and collector in the house tax department of the MCD, Kunal Kashyap, and ad-hoc DANICS officer and deputy secretary in the services department, Amitabh Joshi, are also among the complainants, the officials said. Verma and Shurbir Singh, who hail from Punjab, have alleged in their complaint that their families were being targeted in their home state. Shurbir Singh has informed the LG Office that he has approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the harassment of his family, the officials said.
The AAP is in power in Punjab and there was no reaction from it to the complaints by the officers, who hail from the state. There has been a growing discord between bureaucrats and the AAP dispensation in Delhi ever since the Supreme Court granted the city government executive power in services matters, including the transfer and posting of officers.
Hours after the apex court order placed the control of bureaucrats working with the Delhi government, More was removed as services secretary. Delhi Services Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj had also alleged on Friday that Chief Secretary (CS) Kumar had issued a death threat to him on May 16. Kumar, however, claimed in a letter to the LG that the allegations were an after-thought of Bharadwaj to save himself from his alleged misconduct with the officers of the services department.
