Author: Express News Service
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: August 14, 2011
URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/pc-is-backing-delinquent-cops-says-bjp/831699/0
A day after Home Minister P Chidambaram asserted
that the Centre has the right to look into the cases of two senior IPS officers
in Gujarat, the BJP on Saturday returned fire, saying that he was backing
"delinquent" officers. It also came out in full support of the Narendra
Modi government and justified its action against both Rahul Sharma and suspended
officer Sanjiv Bhatt.
On a day Sharma was chargesheeted for alleged
misconduct in not submitting the original CDs containing mobile phone call
records related to the 2002 riots, the BJP said the officer had procured the
CDs although he was neither the investigating officer nor the supervisory
officer.
"After his transfer to another post,
Sharma did not hand over the CDs to the officer who took charge from him,
nor did he inform any jurisdictional court about the procurement of the CDs.
Instead of replying to the show-cause notice, Sharma sought to delay the proceedings
by asking for more and more time," BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman
said.
Hitting out at Bhatt, she said he is "facing
several departmental proceedings and criminal cases of serious nature"
and added "he was once convicted of misusing his official position by
foisting false cases against a person under the Drugs and Narcotics Act".
The case was registered in Rajasthan. In a personal attack, the main opposition
party said Chidambaram was the lawyer for Bhatt's co-accused in that case
in which it claimed the Gujarat government had to pay Rs 1 lakh as compensation
to the victim.
"In his present posting in Junagadh,
Bhatt has not resumed duties though more than 10 months have passed since
he was posted there. He has created false records of his presence at the SRP
Training Centre, Junagadh for a period in November 2010," it claimed
and slammed the Home Minister for what it called supporting "such delinquent"
officers.
"The Home Minister gave an open, crisp
and clear suggestion to the officers accused of indiscipline to seek the Congress-led
central government's help. It sounded like an invitation to the erring officials
by a Union Home Minister who should be interested in building a disciplined
police force in the country," Sitharaman said.
She said it was as "shocking" that
the Home Minister has come out in support of "such delinquent officers
who are charged on various grounds of omissions and commissions in office"
and claimed there was a pattern in Chidambaram's "meddling with Gujarat's
affairs".
