Punjab Civil Service officers go on mass leave from Monday, here's why

Punjab Civil Service officers have decided to go on mass casual leave for five days starting Monday. The move comes in protest against the 'illegal' arrest of a colleague -- Narinder Singh Dhaliwal -- in Ludhiana by the state vigilance bureau.

A decision in this regard was taken by the Punjab Civil Services Officers' Association on Sunday.

PCS officer Narinder Singh Dhaliwal was arrested on Friday by the vigilance bureau for allegedly taking bribes from transporters for sparing them challans for offending vehicles, the bureau had said. Dhaliwal was posted as Regional Transport Authority (RTA) in Ludhiana.

The PCS Officers' Association held a meeting of its general body to discuss Dhaliwal's arrest. Eighty PCS officers attended the meeting, according to the resolution of the association. "The PCS officer has been arrested illegally, wrongfully and arbitrarily and without due procedure," it said.

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It was resolved in the meeting that all the PCS officers in the state shall proceed on a mass casual leave for the coming week starting from January 9, it said. It further said that a memorandum shall be submitted to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann in this regard.

The association demanded the government constitute a high-powered committee to investigate the "illegal" arrest of Dhaliwal and sought its report by January 13.

The committee should include senior IAS officers of principal secretary rank as well as a PCS officer and representatives of the transport department, the demanded. The resolution said further course of action will depend on a review of the situation on January 14.

The vigilance bureau on Friday had said that during the investigations of a complaint lodged through the chief minister's anti-corruption helpline on November 18, it was found that Dhaliwal was indulging in collecting bribes through some private persons from different transporters on a monthly basis in Ludhiana for not issuing challans of their vehicles.

(With inputs from PTI)