ANUPAM RAJAN, a 1993 batch IAS officer of MP cadre, is in limbo. His name is missing on the Union Ministry of Personnel (MoP) Civil List for the last eight years although the State Government has given him three promotions since. Caught in a legal battle against the Union Government on the charge of swapping answer sheet with a friend in the 1993 UPSC (preliminary) examination, Anupam Rajan continues to be on probation.
Katni collector Rajan had passed the IAS examination in 1992 but sat in the same examination the next year ‘to improve his position for getting a cadre of his choice in the IAS’. However, the Ministry of Personnel on certain complaints later concluded that Rajan had re-appeared in the exam to help his friend Ashraf Jamal get good marks in the sociology (prelims) paper.
The Union Government dismissed Rajan from service in 1996, finding him “lacking in qualities of mind and nature needed for services”. Subsequently, the CBI filed a criminal case against him in the Delhi CJM court.
He challenged the discharge order in the Jabalpur branch of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), which quashed the dismissal. He also got a stay over the CBI case in the Delhi High Court. Now the Union Government is seeking to get the CAT order rescinded in the Madhya Pradesh High Court and the stay vacated in the Delhi High Court.
Both the cases are pending. Meanwhile, the State Government requested the MoP several times to include Anupam Rajan’s name in the Civil list. Apparently, the State Government, which gave Rajan three promotions, has nothing against him. But the Union Government, which is the petitioner against Rajan in the Madhya Pradesh High Court, is ignoring the State Government’s plea on the ground that his name could not be included as he cannot be confirmed. “Confirmation is not automatic” is the Centre’s contention against the CAT, Jabalpur order.
{{/usCountry}}Both the cases are pending. Meanwhile, the State Government requested the MoP several times to include Anupam Rajan’s name in the Civil list. Apparently, the State Government, which gave Rajan three promotions, has nothing against him. But the Union Government, which is the petitioner against Rajan in the Madhya Pradesh High Court, is ignoring the State Government’s plea on the ground that his name could not be included as he cannot be confirmed. “Confirmation is not automatic” is the Centre’s contention against the CAT, Jabalpur order.
{{/usCountry}}Citing rules, the Centre has submitted to the High Court: “A member of service cannot be deemed to have been confirmed
unless a formal order to this effect was issued”. “I have requested the MoP to induct Anupam’s name. Such requests have been made in the past also,” said Veera Rana, Secretary in the General Administration Department.
She said that on each promotion to Anupam Rajan — he got the first one in 2001— the GAD kept MoP posted. He was promoted after consulting the advocate general who opined that since the criminal case against Rajan predates his joining the IAS, he could be promoted, the GAD secretary clarified.
When contacted, Rajan refused to comment on the case, saying the matter is sub judice. He, however, pleaded that when probation officers’ names are included in the MoP Civil List, his name too should figure in it. Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation has managed to get the stay vacated in respect of Jamal.