New Delhi: The Haryana government Saturday sent IAS officer Ayush Sinha on leave apart from ordering a judicial probe into last month’s clash between farmers and police in Karnal.
Sinha, a sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) is at the centre of a controversy after videos purportedly show him directing policemen to hit protesting farmers on their heads if they breached security cordons.
With the footage going viral and farmers holding dharnas demanding action against Sinha, a 2018 batch IAS officer, the government reached an agreement with farmers, who eventually agreed to call off their protest.
Following the incident that took place on 28 August, farmers had been demanding Sinha’s suspension. On 2 September, he was, however, transferred out of Karnal and posted as the additional secretary of Citizen Resources Information Department.
This despite calls for an FIR to be lodged against him and the other police personnel involved in the clash.
Sources in the Haryana government told ThePrint that if the state surrendered to such pressure, it would be setting a precedent for anytime someone protested against an IAS officer.
For now, Sinha will remain on leave as long as the probe is on, which will be conducted by a retired high court judge and is expected to be completed within a month.
ThePrint reached Ashok Kumar Meena, special secretary, Personnel Training, Vigilance and Parliamentary Affairs Department of Haryana, for a comment via message and phone calls, but didn’t receive a response till the time of publishing this report.
The case of Sinha is one among many IAS officers who have landed in hot water, either with state governments or for their actions and perceived high handedness in handling matters.
But, despite facing disciplinary proceedings and investigations initiated by state governments, these officers continue to be in the service.
ThePrint looks at other such cases.
Also read: Haryana govt ‘to launch misconduct inquiry’ against IAS officer behind ‘smash heads’ order
Durga Shakti Nagpal, UP cadre
Durga Shakti Nagpal was a SDM in Noida in 2013 when she took on the illegal sand mafia in Gautam Buddha Nagar. However, she allegedly upset the state government.
The 2010-batch officer was suspended by the then Akhilesh Yadav government for allegedly not following due legal process while demolishing a mosque.
This led to a rift between the state and the then UPA government, which sought the lifting of the suspension. Nagpal was eventually reinstated, but a charge sheet was filed in the interim. It was quashed in 2013.
A little over a year later, Nagpal’s husband Abhishek Singh was suspended by the same government for allegedly inhumanly treating a 55-year-old Dalit teacher. Singh, also a UP cadre IAS officer of the 2011 batch, was at the time the SDM in Mathura.
Following this, the couple managed to move to New Delhi on deputation in 2015.
While Nagpal was appointed officer on special duty (OSD) to Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, her husband Abhishek was moved to the Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory, (Delhi) cadre, by the Department of Personnel and Training for a period of three years.
Since then, both IAS officers have been serving in New Delhi. Nagpal was in 2019 posted as the deputy secretary in the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce while Abhishek was appointed a deputy commissioner in the revenue department in the Delhi government.
While Abhishek is currently on study leave, Nagpal is now a special secretary, medical education, in the UP government.
Divyanshu Patel, UP cadre
In July this year, 2017 batch IAS officer Divyanshu Patel, posted as the chief development officer (CDO) at Unnao, was caught, on camera, beating up a video journalist during the block panchayat polls. Patel was also seen smashing the mobile phone of the journalist.
Following an outpouring of outrage, UP Additional Chief Secretary (Information) Navneet Sehgal told ThePrint that the government sought a report on the incident from Unnao district officials.
A day after the incident, Krishna Tiwari, the journalist, and Patel were seen offering sweets to each other. Tiwari told the media that Patel had apologised for his actions and that there had been some confusion as Patel did not know he was a journalist.
With the original video being shared widely, Patel had deactivated his Twitter profile since old tweets of his, made against the current BJP government and the RSS, had begun surfacing.
Sources in the UP government had told ThePrint that the Chief Minister’s Office was satisfied with Patel’s response and that the matter was not being looked into officially.
Of his old tweets, Patel had clarified that they were made while he was still a student and did not reflect his current ideology.
Patel remains to be the CDO at Unnao as of today.
Also read: Centre vs states, rules vs convention — who really controls IAS officers
Shailesh Yadav, Tripura cadre
In the last week of April this year, Shailesh Yadav made headlines when he went to a wedding and beat up the groom and his family for flouting Covid protocols.
With a video of the incident going viral, Yadav was widely criticised for seeming high handed approach, and led to calls for his suspension.
However, the 2013 batch officer was not suspended. Instead, he was asked to give in writing that he wished to discontinue from his post as the West District Magistrate, according to sources in the administration.
The Tripura High Court though took cognisance of a petition filed against Yadav and asked the state to submit the video footage of the alleged misconduct.
The government, in the meantime, formed a two-member committee to probe the matter.
Senior government officials ThePrint reached via phone calls refused to comment on the matter, but some noted that the high court is monitoring the inquiry.
The court so far received supplementary reports from two separate committees it set up to look into the matter, but is not satisfied with the conclusions.
A third report, by a single-member enquiry committee comprising a retired judge, also set up by the high court, is pending. Meanwhile, the court barred Yadav from making any public statements until receiving further orders. Apart from these three petitions in court, Yadav also faces three FIRs in the state.
Though enquiries are pending, the state government appointed Yadav as the OSD for Covid-19 management on 31 May.
Sources close to Yadav told ThePrint that he was not allotted any government accommodation and staff for the same, a customary perk.
ThePrint reached Chief Secretary Alok Kumar’s office via phone calls about the status of enquiries against Yadav, but didn’t receive a response till the time of publishing this report.
Ranbir Sharma, Chhattisgarh cadre
In May this year, Ranbir Sharma, a 2012 batch officer, who was posted as the collector of Surajpur district, assaulted a youth for flouting lockdown rules. A video of him beating the youth and throwing his phone on the ground soon found infamy on social media. Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel immediately reacted, announcing that the officer was removed from his post.
“Surajpur incident of DC Ranbir Sharma misbehaving with a young man has been brought to my notice. This is extremely unfortunate and condemnable. No such incident shall be tolerated in Chhattisgarh. Have given instructions to remove collector Ranbir Sharma with immediate effect,” he had tweeted in Hindi.
The IAS Association, too condemned the incident, saying it went against the basic tenets of service and civility. “Civil servants must have empathy and provide a healing touch to society at all times, more so in these difficult times.” the tweet read.
Though Sharma was removed as district collector, he was transferred as a joint secretary in the state secretariat.
Kamalpreet Singh, secretary of the general administration department (GAD), told ThePrint, “Sharma has not been given any assignment as of now. I cannot comment on the status of the enquiry report.”
Praveen Kumar Laxkar, UP cadre
Parveen Kumar Laxkar, as district magistrate of Hathras, made the headlines after he allowed the midnight cremation of the 19-year-old Dalit gang-rape victim last September.
In an interview, the 2012 cadre officer said he took full responsibility for the decision, which prevented the family from bringing the girl’s body home before the last rites.
The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court took cognisance of the incident and expressed concern over the state government not taking action.
Despite these observations and an outcry by activists, the Yogi Adityanath government did not suspend Laxkar.
Instead, in January this year, he was among the 16 IAS officers to be transferred and is currently the DM of Mirzapur.
When ThePrint reached the Additional Chief Secretary Devesh Chaturvedi, Department of Appointment and Personnel, UP, on the status of action taken against Laxkar, he said, “I have been recently transferred and I am not aware of the actions taken against the said officer.”
(Edited by Manasa Mohan)
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