Chandigarh, April 19
Mr Sanjiv Kumar, an IAS officer of the Haryana cadre, who blew the whistle in the Supreme Court on the alleged irregularities in the recruitment of JBT teachers in the state in 2000, today offered to undergo narco-analysis test (popularly known as truth serum test) on all aspects of the case, including corruption charges against CBI officers.

The officer had alleged that the then Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, had put pressure on him to replace the original selection lists of 3206 JBT teachers with a fake one. When he did not oblige Mr Chautala, he was hounded by the government, which not only ordered a number of departmental inquiries but also initiated a number of vigilance cases against him. The officer also submitted the one set of selection lists, claimed by him to be fake, to the court.

The Supreme Court directed the CBI to investigate the scam in November, 2003, following which the investigating agency first registered a preliminary enquiry and then a regular case in May, 2004, against the then Officer-on-Special Duty to Chief Minister, Mr Vidya Dhar; and the then Political Adviser to the Chief Minister, Mr Sher Singh Badshami, but not against Mr Chautala himself, whom Mr Sanjiv Kumar had accused to be the prime perpetrator of the crime. The houses of Mr Vidya Dhar and Mr Badshami were also raided. However, later the agency turned the heat on the whistle-blower, Mr Sanjiv Kumar, who in turn accused certain CBI officers of demanding money from him.

Mr Sanjiv Kumar also submitted audio-cassettes and their transcripts to the apex court, in which, he alleged the telephonic talk between him and the alleged touts of the CBI officers was recorded. The alleged touts, he claimed, had demanded Rs 55 lakh from him from for three CBI officials.

The CBI not only raided the houses of Mr Sanjiv Kumar but also those of his relatives and friends “in a bid to unearth the officer’s assets allegedly disproportionate to his known sources of income”. Taking a serious view of the CBI action, the Supreme Court directed it to investigate the recruitment scam properly and not to touch Mr Sanjiv Kumar.

Mr Sanjiv Kumar’s offer of undergoing narco-analysis test will put the CBI in an embarrassing situation. The agency is already under fire for raiding the houses of Mr Karan Singh Dalal, who had been exposing the misdeeds of the INLD Government for the past five years, a few days before the agency was to submit the status report before the Supreme Court. The CBI raid gave the misleading impression as if Mr Dalal was mixed up with Mr Chautala.

The agency took about two years to raid the houses of Mr Chautala and his family after registering the case. Mr Dalal, Congress MLA from Palwal, was instrumental in persuading certain unsuccessful candidates to go to the Supreme Court after Mr Sanjiv Kumar had approached the apex court in the JBT recruitment scam.

This is not the first time Mr Sanjiv Kumar has offered to undergo narco-analysis test. Earlier, he had written a letter to the CBI that since it was his impression that the agency was spending more time “in finding flaws in my case rather than putting the heat on the real culprits behind the JBT employment scam i.e. the Chief Minister and his officers...I would voluntarily like to submit myself for a narco-analysis test right now at this stage itself.”

Mr Sanjiv Kumar, who first made this offer after the registration of the preliminary enquiry itself, regretted that “I am getting the feeling that instead of a complainant or petitioner I am now being forced to prove my innocence like a culprit. This is serving the purpose which the Chief Minister (Mr Chautala) is also desirous of.”

The officer went on to say that Mr Chautala’s purpose was to cast doubts on Mr Sanjiv Kumar’s credibility, “dilute and divert attention from the main issues and the main culprits, delay the conversion of the preliminary enquiry into a regular case as far as possible; and by getting to make me a part in the whole scam, the Chief Minister (Mr Chautala) is trying to dilute his role as the main perpetrator of the crime.”

He also clarified that he was under “no pressure from any quarter to undertake the narco-analysis test and willingly and unconditionally volunteer for the same, so that the conversion of the preliminary enquiry into the regular case is not further delayed nor is it diluted in any manner.”

It may be recalled that Mr Sanjiv Kumar had also filed an application before the apex court accusing the CBI Director, Mr U.S. Mishra, of perjury and contempt of court after he gave a clean chit to those agency officials whom the IAS officer had accused of demanding money from him. A few days before the application was to come up for hearing, the CBI raided the houses of Mr Sanjiv Kumar and his associates on February 17, 2005. When the court took up the case on February 21, 2005, it directed the CBI not to proceed further with any investigation against Mr Sanjiv Kumar. It also directed Mr Mishra to appear in person in the chambers of the Chief Justice of India, Justice R.C. Lahoti, on March 7, 2005. However, the case was put off till March 14 when the court directed the CBI to file a status report within four weeks.

The CBI conducted raids on the houses of Mr Dalal and Mr Chautala on April 7, about a week before it was to submit the status report to the apex court.

The apex court has now fixed October 24 as the next date of hearing.

Hisar, March 19
A number of faculty members of Guru Jambheshwar University here are upset over the long delay in the issuance of promotion and fresh appointment letters to them. Though the interviews for the aforesaid posts were conducted several months ago, the promotion and appointment letters have not been issued due to one reason or the other.

The GJU authorities requested the state government in 2003 for filling various faculty posts in 2003. The state government allowed the university administration to fill the vacant posts in a phased manner.

In January 2004, the vacancies were advertised, following which the first phase of interviews was conducted in August and some faculty members were appointed. The interviews for the second phase were carried out in December 2004.

However, elections to the state Assembly were announced and Model Code of Conduct came into force before the GJU Executive Council could finalise the promotions and fresh appointments.

Hence, the GJU teachers could not be issued promotion letters though all formalities had been completed. A meeting of the GJU Executive Council was then fixed for March to finalise the promotions and issue letters.

However, this time the panchayat and municipal poll was announced and again, the Model Code of Conduct prevented the issuance of letters.

After the local bodies poll was over and the model code lifted, the GJU Vice-Chancellor, Mr Vishnu Bhagwan, resigned from his post.

Sirsa, April 19
Will Chaudhary Devi Lal University (CDLU) issue roll number to Abhey Singh Chautala, Zila Parishad member of Sirsa, to take final examinations despite the allegations of not attending a single lecture in the entire session in the Department of Law? Though the CDLU authorities are silent on the issue, students and teachers on the campus demand a disciplinary action against Abhey for not attending the required number of lectures.

According to sources, it is mandatory for a law graduate to submit a certificate from the Chairman of the department confirming attendance in a minimum of 75 per cent lectures before getting registered as a lawyer. But, the students allege that CDLU is not maintaining the sanctity of attending the lectures in the case of Abhey and taking it leniently due to obvious reasons.

Talking to The Tribune, a number of students and teachers demanded not to allow Abhey to take final exams. “Last year roll numbers were denied to a number of students after they failed to attend the minimum number of lectures. This year too, there should not be any discrepancy,” they said.

Last week, The Tribune had highlighted that Abhey was the final year student of the Department of Law in the CDLU. Both officials and Abhey himself, younger son of former Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, are not ready to divulge the details of his studies.

According to a senior faculty member, admission of Abhey in the department had tarnished the image of the department. “There were pressures from the previous INLD government in admitting him which is evident from the fact that his admission remained a least popular aspect on the campus. Now the authorities should take a stern action to retain the sanctity of the department,” he added.

The department cannot deny the fact that if Abhey had ever attended the lecturers in all three years, argued the insiders. “He is a kind of person always moving in the fanciest of the vehicles along with a caravan of security personnel and his supporters. His presence cannot be ignored in a one-building campus of the CDLU,” said a senior functionary. 

Panchkula, April 19
The Haryana Government today reinstated the Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF), Haryana, Mr K.L. Manhas, as CCF and Chief Wildlife Warden, following orders of the Central Administrative Tribunal.

Mr Manhas, who was posted as CCF- cum- Chief Wildlife Warden till December 16, 2004, had blown the whistle on alleged wrong-doings in the Forest Department when he was stripped of his powers, and left with the charge of Chief Conservator of Forests, Wildlife. The Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests was given additional charge of Chief Wildlife Warden, while Mr Manhas was given a non-cadre post.

During his tenure as Chief Wildlife Warden, Haryana, (for over one month), he had detected alleged misappropriation of funds and wrong environmental clearance for 24 petrol pumps in Gurgaon and Hisar forest circle, financial irregularities in the Rewari, Hisar, Mahendragarh, Bhiwani, Gurgaon and Faridabad Forest divisions. He had also highlighted that illegal construction and large scale plantations were being undertaken by the forest department in order to meet their plantation targets, within the Protected Areas (National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries).

On December 13, three days before he was unceremoniously removed from the post of Chief Wildlife Warden, Mr Manhas had issued directions for action against the wildlife officers responsible for alleged illegal captivity of vultures at the Vulture Care and Captive Breeding Centre, Pinjore.

Alleging that he was being targeted for exposing the wrong-doings, Mr Manhas approached CAT and said that no orders were issued regarding his transfer and posting on a cadre post, after his removal as Chief Wildlife Warden. The IFS officer also alleged that in the past seven months of 2004, he was subjected to frequent transfers by the state government without any valid reason.

Though CAT had issued directions to the Haryana Government to give posting to Mr Manhas within two weeks of passing the order on March 17, the government failed to give him his posting orders. Mr Manhas had filed a miscellaneous application before CAT, and a date of hearing was fixed for today, when the state government presented the orders of posting of Mr Manhas as Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden.

Ambala, April 19
Sangharsh Vahini president Hira Lal Yadav said that he was keeping all options open with regard to the election of Municipal Council Ambala Sadar president.

Talking to mediapersons here today, Mr Yadav said that five candidates of the Sangharsh Vahini had won the MC election. The Sangharsh Vahini supported candidates who have won include Mr Hira Lal Yadav from ward no. 19, Mr Rajesh Kumar from ward no.6, Mr Vinod Kumar from ward no. 25, Mr Gagan Dang from ward no. 29 and Mr Naveen Yadav from ward no.31.

Mr Hira Lal Yadav clarified that Mr Gagan Dang was supported by the Sangharsh Vahini and there were no doubts about his affiliation. "Unnecessarily an issue is being raised. I would like to stress that Mr Gagan Dang is a part of us," he said.

He said that he was open to talks with different political outfits. "I do not want that there should be any machinations for election of MC president. The person who is elected MC president should have experience as well as maturity. The new incumbent must accord top priority to development work," he said.

Mr Hira Lal Yadav was the leader of the Congress in the last Municipal Council Ambala Sadar. After he was denied Congress ticket to contest the Assembly election, he had contested as a rebel Congress candidate. Thereafter, he contested MC election and won from ward no.19.

Rohtak, April 19
The Hooda government is planning to evolve a transfer policy for government employees whose main features will be fixed tenure and change of station on next posting, it is learnt.

According to highly placed sources, the need for such a policy was felt when the Chief Minister was recently flooded with requests for postings from thousands of employees of various categories. Most of them wanted to be posted to their hometowns or were desirous of staying put in their present places of posting, despite being there for years together.

The sources said it was felt that to minimise corruption in government departments and to end discrimination among employees, it was necessary to formulate a policy and implement it strictly so that no individual stayed in a particular place or post for too long.

Although the policy is yet to be drafted, there is a general agreement among the top brass of the government that under the new scheme of things, officials should not be posted to key or so called “lucrative” posts for more than one consecutive term, even when their place of posting is changed on completing the term.

This, the sources said, would give equal opportunities to all officials to demonstrate their ability and improve functioning of their offices. In the recent past, a handful of functionaries had been occupying such posts denying others a chance to prove their talent.

Besides, it would help curb corruption at both public and the political fronts.

In the engineering departments such as the PWD and the State Power Utilities the posts planned to be included in the two-year tenure category are those of Chief Engineer, Superintending Engineer, Executive Engineers and SDO manning key offices such as the operations wing in power utilities. According to sources, most posts in the police may be placed in this category.

However, a longer tenure is likely for teachers and some other categories of employees. Generally, legislators and ministers face maximum pressure for suitable places of posting from schoolteachers.

Though they try their best to accommodate the maximum number, yet they end up annoying more persons than those pleased. In the case of teachers, the norm of five years in one place is likely to be followed strictly.

The sources said the government was planning to make shifting of any employee who has not completed his or her tenure more difficult by making it mandatory to record the reasons for the shifting in writing. This, it is felt, will make the process of postings more transparent.