IAS body rallies behind suspended officer Durga Nagpal

Lucknow/New Delhi: Demands to revoke suspension of Durga Shakti Nagpal grew louder with the central body of IAS officers seeking that the “wrong” be undone immediately and opposition BSP saying honest officials were facing hardships in the “goonda and mafia raj” of SP. But, the Uttar Pradesh government appeared in no mood to revoke the suspension of the IAS officer with Cabinet minister Shivpal Yadav saying it was a “misconception” that mining mafia had a hand in suspension of the SDM Gautam Buddha Nagar. The All India IAS Association demanded immediate revocation of suspension of the young IAS officer who took stringent action against sand mafia. “Whatever wrong has been should be immediately undone. Such action is not appropriate,” Association’s Secretary Sanjay R Bhoos Reddy told PTI in Delhi. [caption id=“attachment_1000871” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Durga Nagpal in this screengrab. Image from CNN-IBN[/caption] He said the Association’s member will meet Minister of State for Personnel V Narayanasamy, Secretary of Department of Personnel and Training, nodal authority for personnel matters of IAS, Dr Shyamal Sarkar and Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth tomorrow in support of its demand. “We will meet the MoS, DoPT Secretary and Cabinet Secretary. We will ask them to intervene in the matter and revoke suspension of the IAS officer. We will also seek necessary safeguards in All India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules 1969, for an officer,” said Reddy, who is working as Joint Secretary in Agriculture Ministry. Narayanasamy, however, said the Centre is awaiting a report from the Uttar Pradesh government based on which it will decide the future course of action. “We are awaiting a report from Uttar Pradesh government. As per rules, state government needs to send a report (on suspension of an officer) to the Centre which is awaited,” he told PTI. Holding that Nagpal’s suspension proved that “goonda and mafia raj” was prevailing under SP rule in the state, BSP chief Mayawati demanded that the Centre and the UP Governor intervene in the matter. “In the prevailing dismal law and order situation and goonda and mafia raj, apart from the people of the state, honest officials are facing hardships. The suspension of Durga Shakti Nagpal is an example, as she been sacrificed for mining mafia,” Mayawati told reporters in Lucknow. Meanwhile, SP leader Narinder Bhati, who had earlier claimed that the Noida SDM was suspended on his complaint, denied his role in her suspension and said he would quit politics if his links to mining mafia are proved. “The SDM’s role in demolition of boundary wall of religious place was the cause of her suspension and not illegal mining related issues,” he said in Greater Noida. Bhati is chairman of UP Agro Corporation and enjoys the status of a cabinet minister. Noida BJP MLA Mahesh Sharma alleged that when a temple was recently demolished, the state government did not take any action against guilty officers. “But now, when a boundary wall on government land constructed by a religious body to grab the land near mosque was demolished, the UP Chief Minister suspended the honest SDM who was doing her duty,” he claimed, demanding revocation of her suspension orders. 28-year-old Nagpal, who was suspended on 27 July as Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Gautam Budh Nagar district, met Revenue Board Chairman Jagan Mathews in Lucknow yesterday. The 2010 batch IAS officer, whose cadre was changed to Uttar Pradesh from Punjab in August last year, is attached to the Board of Revenue in Lucknow. The IAS Association has already met Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh and urged him to revoke Nagpal’s suspension. Her suspension has been challenged in the Allahabad High Court through a public interest litigation which is likely to come up for hearing tomorrow. PTI