Condemning the alleged manhandling of the Delhi chief secretary by a few Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs on Monday night, two IAS bodies on 20 February met Lt Governor Anil Baijal to lodge their protest over the matter and said the incident appears to be "pre-planned and premeditated".
Delhi Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash was allegedly manhandled by a few AAP MLAs at the chief minister's residence, in presence of Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia. However, the chief minister's office dismissed the accusation as "bizarre and baseless".
According to an official, Prakash was called by Kejriwal regarding the issue of advertisements, which were not being released. However, the AAP claimed that he had been called for a discussion on rations.
IAS, Delhi Andaman & Nicobar Islands Civil Service (DANICS) associations, along with the Delhi Administration Subordinate Services (DASS), took out a candlelight march at Rajghat. All three association members have decided not to attend any meeting called by Delhi Government till apology is tendered from CM Kejriwal, and action is taken against the MLAs involved.
The IAS bodies alleged that the meeting was called on Monday night to put pressure on the chief secretary to release publicity material regarding achievements of the AAP government, in violation of the Supreme court guidelines.
The meeting was devoid of any emergency or public interest, they claimed.
"The incident which has happened at the official residence of the chief minister clearly appears to pre-planned, premeditated and absolutely without any provocation on the part of the chief secretary in view of the fact that the meeting was called at midnight...”
“The meeting had been called to put pressure on him to release publicity material regarding achievements of the government,” the associations said in a joint statement.
They stated it was a culmination of a series of incidents of officers being subjected to verbal abuse and intimidation by political authorities from time to time and tend to lead to impairment of the effective functioning of bureaucracy in free and impartial manner.
The associations have in the past, repeatedly urged the political parties to allow the officials to discharge their duties professionally, the statement said.
"The appalling and shocking physical assault meted out to the head of the administration of Delhi, in form of blows on the head, amounting to threat to life and physical safety is deplorable," they said, adding that in public interest, the officers and staff would continue to work in their offices.
"We request for effective action to be taken against all people behind the incident," the associations said.
Utter chaos unfolded inside the Delhi Secretariat earlier in the day as Delhi Environment Minister Imran Hussain was mobbed by over a hundred officials and staff.
Officials and staff of the Delhi government raised slogans and prevented Hussain from taking the elevator to his 6th floor office at the secretariat this afternoon.
Police had to escort the minister to his office later, sources said.
About the incident, Hussain said, "I don't know whether they were government employees, but I will identify them." The minister later filed a complaint with the IP Estate Police Station alleging that he was assaulted.
The AAP government also released a video showing Hussain being roughed up while his APA Himanshu Singh was thrashed by a section of the agitating staff.
However, Deepak Bharadwaj, general secretary of the Delhi Government Employees Association, refuted the allegations and claimed that the minister arrived when the sloganeering was on but nobody manhandled him.
Hundreds of government officials gathered at the second floor of the Delhi Secretariat, demanding an FIR be lodged against AAP MLAs who allegedly assaulted the chief secretary.
Prakash was allegedly manhandled at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence last night, an official said, even as the chief minister's office dismissed the accusation as "bizarre and baseless".
Meanwhile, AAP MLA Ajay Dutt, who was present at the meeting yesterday, in a email to the commissioner of police alleged that Anshu Prakash "abused" and used "casteist" remarks against him and another MLA Prakash Jarwal.
Demanding an FIR against the chief secretary, Dutt said he had asked Prakash about complaints regarding ration distribution in his constituency (Ambedkarnagar), but the CS misbehaved and left the meeting.
After the incident, the chief secretary met Lt Governor Anil Baijal and apprised him of the incident, he added.
The IAS officers association met Baijal on Tuesday and raised the issue before him.
Video Producer: Hera Khan
Video Editor: Vivek Gupta
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