New Delhi: The Modi government has prematurely repatriated Gopal Krishan Gupta, a joint secretary in the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), a month after he used his official letterhead to arrange for tickets to an IPL match for free.
According to an Appointments Committee of the Cabinet order dated 10 May, Gupta, an Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineers (IRSME) officer from the 1987 Batch, would be repatriated “with immediate effect with imposition of extended ‘cooling off’ condition.”
Gupta was appointed to the MNRE in April 2018. He will now be sent back to his nodal Railway Ministry.
In a 3 April letter addressed to Rajat Sharma, president of the Delhi District Cricket Association (DDCA), Sharma had not only asked him to ensure the availability of complementary passes for an IPL match, but also used his official ministry letterhead for it.
Sources in the Department of Personnel and Training said that the action came as a result of Gupta misusing his official position for a personal matter.
According to the Central Civil Service Conduct Rules, 1964, “If a Government servant is found to misuse his official position or to abet and connive at improper and illegal acts, he would render himself liable for disciplinary action.”
ThePrint could not reach Gupta for comment. This report will be updated with his response when received.
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‘Show courtesy’
In the letter, which was doing rounds on social media earlier this week, Gupta complained about the fact that Sharma’s office did not arrange for the passes, and did not inform him about their unavailability till the last moment.
“I do not know whether this episode and the sequence of events as narrated above has been brought to your notice, and whether your executive assistant had informed you about my call and my request for arrangement of passes,” he had said in his letter to Sharma.
“May I request that your office staff may show courtesy in such matters and give timely feedback even if the response is not affirmative,” he added.
Further, underscoring his high position in the government, he said, “I think, we must have mutual respect for the positions being held by us.”
Last week, when his letter leaked on social media, Gupta faced widespread criticism for expressing his displeasure over not getting IPL passes on his official letterhead, with people questioning under which rule a bureaucrat is entitled to such privileges for free.
A bureaucrat @mnreindia not only demands #IPL2019 passes but pens on letterhead his displeasure of not being informed about the passes not coming by #Delhi cricket association. pic.twitter.com/qdFTmLfmqO
— Jyoti Mukul ज्योति جیوتی (@mukuljyoti) May 7, 2019
Dear @the_IAS @IASatWork @IASassociation : Will you tell us under what law is a joint secretary in renewable energy entitled to IPL Passes? Your silence on role of IAS in IL&FS is eloquent. Now cricket -that too between private teams is also your fief!! Show decency 2 respond! https://t.co/WgBGUlnW4e
— Sucheta Dalal (@suchetadalal) May 8, 2019
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