A delegation of the Central IAS Officers’ Association on Sunday called on Minister of State in the PMO Jitendra Singh and urged the government to review some of the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973, to ensure that ‘honest and sincere officers’ are not made scapegoats for ‘bona fide’ decisions taken in public interest.
The meeting came against the backdrop of the recent suspension of a senior officer in the Home Ministry following the renewal of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act licence to Islamic preacher Zakir Naik’s Islamic Research Foundation (IRF).
In a rare display of camaraderie, all 15 Joint Secretaries associated with the Ministry last week petitioned Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh seeking a review of the decision to suspend the senior IAS officer.
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Their case is that Joint Secretary G.K. Dwivedi is an honest officer whose integrity could not be questioned and such moves by the government would send a “wrong signal demoralising” others who take decisions in public interest in good faith.
The association requested the Centre to immediately revoke his suspension.
Mr. Dwivedi, along with three of his junior officers, was suspended last week after the government found that the FCRA licence of the NGO run by Mr. Naik was renewed by the Home Ministry’s Foreigners Division headed by him despite several probes against Mr. Naik.
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Sanjay Bhoosreddy, Honorary Secretary of the Central IAS Officers Association, told The Hindu that the Minister promised to look into the issues raised by the association.