Lokayukta should examine complaints against us before ACB or CBI: Delhi bureaucrats tell Kejriwal

Disillusioned with the bitter state of affairs prevailing between the Centre and the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi, and a nagging fear of getting victimised in the crossfire, a group of bureaucrats as part of the AGMUT (Arunachal Pradesh -Goa-Mizoram-Union Territories) IAS Officers Association met Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday, requesting him to set up a mechanism for filtering complaints received against them.

Led by chief secretary KK Sharma, about 20 officers met Kejriwal, and asked him to put in place an institutional mechanism to sieve complaints received against them before forwarding them to the state anti-corruption branch (ACB) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Senior officials present at the meeting informed that the officers suggested to the CM that a neutral institution such as the Lokayukta of Delhi should ideally look into the complaints first to see if they are malafide, bonafide or purely out of political vendetta and personal vindictiveness.

Reva Khetrapal has recently taken charge as Delhi's Lokayukta.

The officials suggested that if not the state Lokayukta, the civil service board that was set up under the directions of the Supreme Court to look into officers' transfers, or even the state vigilance department's complaint handling authority should see the merit of the complaints first before forwarding them to the ACB.

"Police officials have a tendency to register an FIR first. At times, there could be bonafide mistakes. To find a flaw in a policy decision and then treat it like a criminal complaint is unfair," said an official, who was present at the meeting.

The official said that while had most of the recent complaints registered against Delhi's bureaucrats are likely to be a result of the political war between the state and the Centre, it should be ensured that officers should be spared of any unnecessary harassment.

"We told the CM that if there is a political war between two parties, their MLAs and ministers should be attacked and not the officers. When an elected representative is blamed, everyone understands it is political. But when cases are registered against officials, it gives the world an impression that they are corrupt," an official said, adding that it not only causes severe damage to their reputation, but also brings huge stress to them and their family.

"Even before a conclusion is arrived at, people jump the gun and call the officer corrupt,"the official said.

Another official said that lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung had earlier sent a directive that all complaints will have to be looked by the vigilance department first before being forwarded to the ACB.

"However, in the current situation, the directive is not being followed and ACB is directly registering all complaints," the official said.

According to officials, since Delhi is not a state, setting up the institutional mechanism is the only option to protect bureaucrats from getting caught in the Delhi government-Centre war.

According to sources, while Kejriwal told the officials that the Delhi government will support them if they are targeted, setting up an institutional mechanism will need the support of the Centre.

"The CM said he can implement our suggestion, if the Centre agrees," an official said.

Since the ACB in Delhi is controlled by the Centre, the association will also meet the union home secretary and Jung next week with the suggestion.

The move comes after the recent raids at secretary to Delhi Cm Rajendra Kumar's office and home by the CBI and after a case was registered by the ACB against vigilance secretary Chetan B Sanghi, on old complaints.