CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Government is finding it difficult to defend its recent decision of suspending two IAS officers over the flip-flop on the panchayat elections.
“Why should the government be conducting a fresh inquiry, as reported, when it had suspended two officers? This means it doesn’t know the exact reasons. The issue has political, administrative and legal aspects, so, blaming just one wing is unfair,” a former Chief Secretary said.
On August 10, a notification was issued to dissolve the rural bodies. The notification was withdrawn on August 31 after Akali leader Gurjeet Singh Talwandi approached the high court, terming the move illegal. The same day the government suspended Dhirendra Kumar Tiwari, Principal Secretary, Financial Commissioner, Rural Development and Panchayats; and Gurpreet Khaira, Director, Rural Development and Panchayats. Reacting to the government’s intentions of conducting an inquiry into the goof-up, as many as three former Chief Secretaries, talking to The Tribune correspondent said the decision to conduct panchayat elections was purely political. The party in power decided to contest the elections after which the Chief Minister asked the bureaucracy to chalk out a programme. Bureaucracy made the election schedule as per the procedural requirements. This has to be cleared by the Advocate General’s office for all legal angles before it is sent to the minister concerned and the Chief Minister for his final approval.
Another former Chief Secretary said: “An error has definitely occurred, be it at political, administrative or legal level. Instead of pronouncing anyone guilty even before the matter has been duly investigated, the government first needs to get its own house checked.”
Speaking on anonymity, a Principal Secretary said: “There is nothing wrong in the government’s decision to conduct the elections or chalking out its schedule. The A-G office should have warned the Chief Minister’s Office about the legal lacunae, if any. A representative of the A-G has on record attended election-related meetings.”
An official spokesperson said: “That is the point we are making. Why have the officers gone beyond the A-G office? What was the hurry? Whose job it was to consult the A-G office? All these things need to be inquired into, and we will do that.”
Leaders of the Congress, SAD and the BJP reiterated that bureaucrats were being made scapegoats for a political blunder by the AAP government. A representative of the A-G office said “mistakes sometimes creep in government decisions. Now that the court has decided the matter, we need to move ahead”.