A senior functionary of the prestigious Lalit Kala Akademi, dismissed on charges of serious fraud and misconduct in May 2014, was reinstated in November by the then Minister for Culture, Shripad Naik, overruling objections from senior officials in the Ministry, including the Culture Secretary.
Sudhakar Sharma, who was the akademi secretary, had been on suspension since February 2013 and subsequently dismissed on charges of financial and administrative irregularities. The previous UPA government had refused to entertain his appeals against the dismissal.
Documents available with The Hindu show that Mr. Naik took an extraordinary interest in Dr. Sharma’s case when he was Minister for Culture. In the latest reshuffle of the Ministry, Mr. Naik was shifted to the newly formed AYUSH Ministry. The Minister did not answer The Hindu ’s questions even two days after a faxed questionnaire was sent to his office.
Speaking to The Hindu , Dr. Sharma claimed that his dismissal was illegal and there was no undue interference in his case. “Do you think a person like me could influence a Union Minister?” he asked. He claimed to have improved the working of the akademi during his nine-year tenure, though this was denied by akademi officials who say “he managed several extensions to his term unlawfully.” The controversy regarding Dr. Sharma’s tenure at the akademi dates back to December 2011 when outgoing Chairman Ashok Vajpeyi sacked him for non-compliance of directions. The move was later overturned by the Ministry of Culture, which said Dr. Sharma should be given a chance to defend himself. In February 2013, the new Chairman, K.K. Chakravarthy, suspended him, pending inquiry, taking note of serious allegations of financial and administrative irregularities.
Dr. Sharma has tried repeatedly to get his suspension revoked, filing appeals to the Ministry of Culture and the Central Administrative Tribunal, all of which were unsuccessful. In May 2014, the akademi found that his appointment as secretary violated the rules of recruitment in the first instance and terminated his employment. After the new government came to power, Dr. Sharma filed another appeal on June 4, 2014, to the Ministry of Culture.
A note from the Ministry, dated November 18, states that a draft recommendation had been prepared to reject Dr. Sharma’s plea in its entirety. It then reads: “Contrary to the Sections recommendations having the approval of the Secretary (Culture), the Hon’ble Minister of State for Culture for reasons indicated in his note dated 07.11.2014 has allowed the appeal of Dr. Sudhakar Sharma to the extent of the quashing of the LKA order which declared void the appointment of Sudhakar Sharma to the post of secretary LKA.”
In his note, the Minister notes that there was no complaint by anybody regarding the appointment of Dr. Sharma and no chance had been given to him to defend his case. However, there was in fact, a show-cause notice about the same which was given to Dr. Sharma on January 15, 2014 and a writ petition in the Delhi High Court filed in 2009 regarding the illegality of his appointment. Though he has been reinstated, Dr. Sharma is still technically under suspension, according to a Delhi High Court order dated January 29, 2014.
