Chandigarh, January 27
The Chief Secretary, Mr Y.S. Ratra, has summoned all files of the Industries Department which have been cleared on or after January 25, a day after the Principal Secretary of the department, Mr Mukul Joshi, was asked to proceed on earned leave.
Though the formal orders asking Mr Mukul Joshi to proceed on earned leave were issued on the evening of January 24, no formal application to proceed on earned leave had been received from the former until this forenoon. Sources in the Civil Secretariat reveal that the office of the Chief Secretary was telephonically informed around noon that the Principal Secretary, Industries, Excise and Taxation, Mr Mukul Joshi, was sending his application with retrospective effect from January 25.
When contacted, the Chief Secretary said that he had not seen his “dak” today and was not aware whether a formal letter had been received from Mr Mukul Joshi or not.
“I have been told by some people that he — Mukul Joshi — attended office on Saturday (January 25) as well as today and cleared some pending files. I am not in a position to comment on this . But I have asked the Joint/Additional Secretary to bring all files to me which have been cleared after the January 24 orders .”
Employees of the Punjab State Industries Development Corporation alleged that all three official cars — PB 65 7373, PB 65A 141 and PB 65B 141 — were still with the Principal Secretary who, after spending some time in his office today at Udyog Bhavan, went to the Civil Secretariat .
Sources, however, reveal that on Saturday he went to Udyog Bhavan to collect his personal papers and today he did the same thing from his Civil Secretariat office. “Before an officer proceeds on earned leave, he has to get formal approval from the Chief Minister as well as the Chief Secretary. As such, he is yet to submit his formal application to the government. Probably it will be done tomorrow morning,” sources said.
While employees’ leaders claimed that several files, especially those pertaining to refunds and immediate disinvestment cases, were cleared on Saturday, official sources denied it, saying that no “important file has been cleared
since Friday last”.
Though he also holds the charge of the Excise and Taxation department, there was no such report of his last minute clearing of files, the sources said.
Meanwhile, the Financial Commissioner Revenue, Mr Bhagat Singh, formally started his work today. He has been asked by the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, to submit his report about the “Panchkula episode” within a fortnight.
Doubts have been raised within the ruling Congress about the report, citing “jurisdiction” as a major handicap. Irrespective of the seniority of the officer given the task of submitting the report, the Haryana police in general and the Panchkula police in particular, these sources say, were by no stretch of law bound to help in completion of the report within the stipulated period.
“Legally, they can neither be summoned nor forced to join the work pertaining to the report,” they added.
