It has now emerged that there were serious complaints of financial irregularities and misconduct – including those from former Delhi Assembly Speaker Prem Singh -- against former Assembly Secretary Siddharath Rao prior to his removal from the post in May this year.
In response to an RTI application filed by activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal, the Assembly Secretariat had on June 25 stated that there were “some complaints'' against Mr. Rao.
The Secretariat has provided details of the complaints against the former official whose appointment as Secretary had not been confirmed by Delhi's Lieutenant-Governor.
It has been stated that former Speaker Prem Singh had written to Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on April 5 this year levelling several accusations against Mr. Rao. The detailed note lists eight such complaints against the former Secretary.
It stated “that the items amounting to several lakhs of rupees outstanding against Ch. Prem Singh, Member (Ex-Speaker), were never received by him or any of his family members and he had been issued a No Objection Certificate to this effect by the then Secretary, Siddharath Rao''.
The second complaint said that “as per Constitutional provisions salary of an elected representative cannot be held back without the consent of the authority but in the case of Ch. Prem Singh, Member (Ex-Speaker) then Secretary Siddharath Rao has committed Breach of Privilege by stopping payment of his salary and other benefit''.
The Secretariat stated in response to the RTI query that “Ch. Prem Singh has alleged that out of vengeance Siddharath Rao, the then Secretary has stopped his pay because he did not succumb to his pressure for appointing him as Secretary of the Legislative Assembly on permanent basis''.
The other charges are equally serious. “Siddharath Rao, the then Secretary misguided him and flouting all rules and norms he allegedly managed a super time IAS scale'', the Secretariat has stated.
It mentioned that “the Accountant-General (Audit), Delhi, also objected to the appointment of Siddharath Rao as Secretary of the Delhi Legislative Assembly. Ch. Prem Singh, Member (Ex-Speaker) directed him to submit comments but he never furnished the same.''
The former Assembly Secretary has been accused of flouting rules. “Siddharath Rao, the then Secretary allegedly had purchased a piece of land adjacent to Raj Niwas amounting to half a crore of rupees after raising loan from SBI, Jwalaheri Branch, Paschim Vihar, New Delhi, the payment of which had been made by his wife working as a teacher. He has allegedly not obtained permission for acquiring this immovable property,'' the detailed complaint note stated.
