Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has made an impassioned appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allow whistleblower bureaucrat Sanjiv Chaturvedi’s deputation to his office.
“It has been a settled practice of our democratic polity that whenever an officer is required as personal staff by any CM or Minister, of any government, the same is deputed accordingly, irrespective of political differences. However, I am surprised to know that after an inordinate delay of 16 months, which included four directions of honourable court, the request has been finally rejected by the ACC [Appointments Committee of Cabinet],” Mr. Kejriwal wrote in his letter to the Prime Minister on July 3, adding that the officer was being underutilised by the Centre.
Considered a close confidant of Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and awarded the Magsaysay Award in 2015 for “outstanding public service”, Mr. Chaturvedi was poised to be a key figure in the AAP government’s vigilance hierarchy and was hand-picked by Mr. Kejriwal to be handed the reins of its anti-graft initiatives.
‘Exemption’In an order dated June 21, the ACC rejected Mr. Chaturvedi’s request to transfer from the Uttarakhand cadre to the government of Delhi who must now, as per the same order, undergo a mandatory three-year cooling off period.
On his part, Mr. Kejriwal argued that officials sought to be appointed as “personal staff” were exempted from the criteria of the said cooling-off period as per DoPT instructions and hence Mr. Chaturvedi’s case needed to be considered afresh.
“I request you to kindly once again consider for inter-cadre deputation of Mr. Chaturvedi, in a more sympathetic manner, ” Mr. Kejriwal signed off.
Mr. Chaturvedi is an Indian Forest Service officer and previously served as the AIIMS Chief Vigilance Officer.
