Steel secretary Aruna Sharma writes to govt to create a mechanism of compensation for officials who are wronged by such complaints.
New Delhi: A top bureaucrat in the central government wants to shield serving IAS officers against what she says are increasing mala fide and bogus complaints made by peers and politicians.
There is a growing trend of certain bureaucrats making bogus complaints against their counterparts and subordinates in order to stem their growth due to ulterior motives, a trend that needs to be checked immediately, steel secretary Aruna Sharma has written in a letter to the department of personnel training (DoPT) and the department of administrative reforms.
In the letter dated 25 March, Sharma has said that the “shameless attempts to run down good officials” must be checked by creating a mechanism of compensations within the government for officials who are wronged due to either the malicious intentions or ignorance of others.
“All such cases pending in the CVC (Central Vigilance Commission) office or different ministries need to be identified and heavy compensation (needs to) be paid from (the) government exchequer and recovered from officers indulging in such mechanisms,” she has written.
This, Sharma argues, can be achieved through strengthening the law of torts — a civil wrong causing a claimant to suffer any loss or harm, thereby resulting in legal liability for the person who commits the tortious act — and making it applicable as and when required against government officials, who often go scot-free.
“Signing document without (the) application of mind, being guided by twisted and crooked intention to harass a colleague by creating a bogey and spoiling his/her reputation, do invite provisions of the law of torts,” she has written.
Claiming she has been witnessing several such cases within the government of late, Sharma says she was compelled to write the letter after learning that bankers collectively were seeking insurance cover against frivolous charges pinning the blame of non-performing assets on them by probe agencies such as the CVC and CBI.
“Just the way bankers want insurance cover against frivolous charges that implicate them, government officials too should have some means to compensate for lost opportunities,” she said.
Sharma also cited the case of former ISRO scientist S. Nambi Narayanan who was framed in a sensational espionage case in 1994. The Supreme Court had earlier this year considered giving compensation to Narayanan, noting that reputation was part of a person’s right to live with dignity and must be protected, an observation which Sharma believes should be extended to government officials.
While Sharma did not divulge details of such cases, she said there is a pattern in the modus operandi adopted against officials. “False complaints are made, notices issued and once exposed, (erring officials) sit on (them) contributing to the delays, (resulting in) continued harassment.”
The letter, Sharma wrote, is “a beginning to develop a mechanism of providing ‘monetary compensation’ from (the) state exchequer to be recovered from the officers who have been indulging in such actions”.
Even if false complaints are entertained by senior officials in the government due to ignorance, and not any ulterior motives, compensation must be recovered from them since “yes men don’t deserve to occupy higher positions,” she has written.
India needs people like her . Jai hind