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‘Tantamount to refusing lawful directions’: Centre to ex-Bengal chief secretary
Late on Monday, the Centre issued a show-cause notice to Bandopadhyay and an official in Delhi said that “suitable action is being contemplated by the department against the official for defying the [transfer order of] DoPT”
The Centre has cited former West Bengal chief secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay’s absence from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting on Cyclone Yaas last week and issued a show-cause notice to him, saying it was “tantamount to refusing to comply with the directions of the Central government and is thus violative of Section 51(b) of the DM [Disaster Management] Act.” The section provides for up to two-year imprisonment in case the refusal to comply with orders results in loss of life or imminent danger thereof.
The Union home ministry issued the notice hours after West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday attacked Modi over the transfer of Bandyopadhyay, who was ordered to report to Delhi amid a face-off between the state and the Central government. Banerjee appointed Bandyopadhyay as her chief adviser for three years while refusing to release the bureaucrat in defiance of the Centre’s direction. She said she permitted Bandopadhyay to retire on his last working day on his request and named HK Dwivedi as his successor. Banerjee called Bandopadhyay a bold officer and accused the Centre of victimising him and practising vindictive politics while calling Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah heartless.
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Late on Monday, the Centre issued the show-cause notice to Bandopadhyay and an official in Delhi said that “suitable action is being contemplated by the department against the official for defying the [transfer order of] DoPT [department of personnel and training]”.
The notice has asked Bandyopadhyay to explain within three days in writing “why action should not be initiated against him” for “acting in a manner tantamount to refusing to comply with the lawful directions of the Central government”.
“By this act of abstaining himself from the review meeting taken by the Prime Minister, who is the chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), in the aftermath of the cyclone Yaas as part of his visit to the affected areas in the state of West Bengal, Shri Alapan Bandyopadhyay, chief secretary… has acted in a manner tantamount to refusing to comply with the directions of the central government and is thus violative of section 51(b) of the DM Act,” said the notice, a copy which HT has seen.
As per the section, the punishment for obstruction under it covers those who “refuse to comply with any direction given by or on behalf of the Central Government or the State Government or the National Executive Committee or the State Executive Committee or the District Authority.” It says in case of conviction, the obstruction will be “punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with fine, or with both”. If such obstruction or refusal to comply with directions “results in loss of lives or imminent danger thereof, it shall on conviction be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years”.
The notice said Modi and his entourage waited for nearly 15 minutes for the officers of the state government to arrive for the meeting. “In view of the absence, the chief secretary was called by an official as to whether they wanted to participate in the meeting or not. Thereafter, the CS [chief secretary] arrived along with the chief minister [Banerjee] and left immediately.”
The fresh face-off between Banerjee and the Centre began last Friday when she skipped the meeting on Cyclone Yaas with Modi. The Centre hours later ordered Bandopadhyay to report to DoPT by 10am Monday.
On Saturday, Banerjee refused to release him and urged the Centre to reconsider its order. She wrote a five-page letter to Modi two days later, questioning the legality of the transfer order and questioned if it was linked to Friday’s meeting. Banerjee maintained she took Modi’s permission before leaving the meeting after objecting to the presence of Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of Opposition, who defeated her after defecting to the Bharatiya Janata Party in the March-April assembly elections. Later in the day, Banerjee said the Centre again asked Bandopadhyay to report to Delhi and insisted the officer cannot join a new office without the state’s permission.
