National Security Advisor Ajit Doval has also been approached to help stop ‘arbitrary’ transfers.
New Delhi: Some DSP rank Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officers have approached the agency Director Rishi Shukla and the National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, seeking their intervention in what they have called “arbitrary” transfers being undertaken by some of their superiors to “silence” those officers who are speaking against the alleged extra-mural activities of a few senior officers.
This newspaper has accessed two such official letters that have been written in the recent past with the NSA and the CBI Director. The aggrieved officers are “hopeful of justice” in view of the sterling reputation of the new CBI Director as also Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s order to cleanse government departments of suspect elements.
This correspondence, while mentioning the name of some top officers in the agency, has given examples of how they are working in the same post and place for more than 15 years, while also pointing to the corruption charges that are pending against some top officers for years now.
An officer, who has approached the CBI Director in the matter, said: “Recently, some of the CBI officers were transferred in ‘public interest’. A careful perusal of the transfer list makes it clear that those, who have spoken out and have resisted some irregular activities of their seniors, have been targeted and have been sent to places that are far from Delhi. There are multiple officers in Delhi, who are posted here for more than 18 years, and yet their names are not on the list.”
The CBI officers have also pointed out in their communication that Nageswara Rao (who served as the CBI interim Director) continues to hold his place in the agency headquarters despite being admonished by the Supreme Court.
Another agency official claimed: “It is almost four months since Rao was punished by the Supreme Court and yet the agency, rather than going by rules and removing him from the critical post he is holding, continues to turn a blind eye towards the incident. He and CBI lawyer S. Bhasuran were found guilty of contempt of the highest court of the land and were made to sit in a corner of the court and imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh each. The rule book says that anyone punished by the SC cannot hold crucial posts in the agency.” Some others, however, spoke highly of Nageswara Rao and called the in-house complaints against him “frivolous”.
Officers claimed that transferring “non-cooperative” officers was the easiest way to make them fall in line. “No one is complaining against transfer, as it is a part of the job of a police officer. However, it becomes an issue when some officers are being transferred too frequently, while others are enjoying the same place of posting for more than 15 years. The CBI Director can easily check who these officers are,” another DSP rank officer of the agency said, adding that “we have confidence that he will set matters right.”