Yet another officer of the Delhi Government has been targeted for honest work. The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), headed 'illegally' by an appointee of Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, has slapped a case of irregularity against Vigilance Secretary Chetan Sanghi - one of the most senior and efficient officers of the government. The ACB will investigate the case based on a frivolous complaint. The officer concerned has denied any wrongdoing and in clarification to media, said that he had sought all required approval as per law, including LG, Mr Jung.
He is not the only one. Before him, a nonexistent case was also brought by the ACB against the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister. These are the officers who are considered to be close to the Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal, and command his respect for their uprightness and their no-nonsense approach. It has also been reported that unsubtle hints have been dropped to officers of the Delhi government that their commitment to Kejriwal is not appreciated by the central government, and they should realize that the AAP government will last only for five years, so why be on the wrong side of power, so to speak.
Recently, two very bright officers who were entrusted by the government to supervising focus areas have been transferred without consulting the Chief Minister or his administration. One officer was looking after the collection of VAT, and the other was instrumental in the Education Department. AAP has made ambitious plans to make government education a quality product and to create a model for generating quality human capital for a better and confident India. AAP has plans to improve tax collections without traumatizing the business class of Delhi. When the transfers of the bureaucrats were brought to the notice of the Home Ministry, it expressed helplessness. So we can only conclude that the moves were made at the behest of the Prime Minister's Office, as has been the practice till now.
Since AAP came into the government there has been an attempt to not let the government function. An elected government was not allowed to choose and appoint its own officers. Suddenly, the Lieutenant Governor discovered and asserted that it was he, not the democratically-elected Chief Minister, who has the powers to appoint and delegate responsibility to officers. The Lieutenant Governor has claimed that he also controls the Service department, which is the nodal department for the appointment of the officers. Readers know the entire controversy and I don't need to elaborate on that. Then one fine morning Mr Jung also made the bizarre argument that the ACB should not be reporting to the Delhi Government but to him as the ACB functions as a police
thana (station) and a police
thana by definition falls in his domain which covers the administration of Police, Law and Order, and Land in the capital. Overnight, a Joint Commissioner of Police (JCP) was appointed as the new chief, superseding the one appointed by the AAP government. The new chief, after taking over the command of the ACB, has been busy targeting honest officers who are refusing to toe the central government's diktats.
The ACB has been in existence for the last 40 years, and it is well-established that it functions under the executive authority of the Delhi government - this was also endorsed by the Delhi High Court decision few months ago. How come the Lieutenant Governor did not highlight his claim over the ACB in 2014 when it filed cases against Reliance chief Mukesh Ambani and Cabinet Minister Veerappa Moily before Kejriwal resigned as Chief Minister?
I am not getting into how Delhi police has been targeting AAP MLAs and other functionaries, and how Delhi Police Chief BN Bassi is challenging a democratically-elected Chief Minister to a public debate, forgetting that service rules don't permit him to make political statements or indulge in politics. He has behaved like Shah Rukh Khan hopping from one TV studio to another, giving all kinds of interviews and making all types of politically-loaded statements. I am also not getting into how AAP volunteers were beaten the whole night in a police station for protesting against police inaction in the Anand Parbat case (the stabbing of teen Meenkashi by her alleged stalkers) as that matter is being referred to courts with charges of illegal confinement and violation of basic human rights of a citizen.
For a central government which talks about cooperative federalism, what has been on display is vengeance against another government. This shows three things -
1. The Central government led by PM Narendra Modi has not forgotten its humiliating defeat in Delhi when AAP recorded a historic win. Modi is known to not take any defeat lightly.
2. As a student of Indian politics, I have heard the legendary stories of Indira Gandhi and how she used to ill-treat the opposition and state government governments. But India has moved on since then and the country is no longer dominated by one party. Indian polity is more diverse and more vibrant with many more powerful regional parties and it's no longer possible to behave like Mrs. Gandhi. And if Mr Modi continues to behave in this fashion then I can only say that either he is wrongly advised by his political strategists, or that fascism is lurking behind the face of the democratically-elected popular leader.
3. The Delhi episode is indicative of the helplessness of democratic institutions vis-a-vis a powerful polarizing figure. India has evolved as a democracy since independence, unlike other nation states that got freedom almost the same time. The entire world is looking at this great experiment in democracy with such a vast population and any attempt to weaken that collective resolve will not be in the national interest. The powers-that-be should realise that the treatment that they are meting out to the AAP government is being very keenly watched.
(Ashutosh joined the Aam Aadmi Party in January 2014.)Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.