Smarting from a notice issued to him for writing a novel, police officer Y. P. Singh has sent a response to his Director-General of Police .‘‘It is humbly submitted that this notice is reeking with malice,’’ Singh, a commandant with the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) VII in Goregaon, said in a three-page letter written to Maharashtra DGP S.C. Malhotra.Singh is the author of Carnage by Angels, his novel about corrupt police officers and politicians. The book was released on May 6 at a function where former police commissioners Arvind Inamdar and Julio Ribeiro made scathing remarks about how the book reflected a corrupt reality.After the book release, Singh was sent a notice by ADGP (Establishment) D.N. Jadhav asking him why the book was published without the department’s nod.In his defence, Singh said conduct rules give ‘‘unbridled freedom to an officer to do literary work on any topic under the sun’’. He pointed out that several officers in the past had written fiction. Malhotra was not available for comment.Singh said the notice was ‘‘apparently a sequel to the annoyance of those persons for whom links have been contrived with instances of corruption, referred to in this work on pure fiction, by press reports’’. Many newspaper reports had attempted to link characters from Singh’s novel with serving officers and politicians in Maharashtra government.Asked why he sent such a defiant reply to his superiors, Singh said:‘‘If action is being taken against me for this, then it is their duty to act on more serious matters such as allegations levelled by former IPS officers like Ribeiro and Inamdar.’’ Singh is facing four government inquiries — two for his tenure in CBI and and two by the state for decisions taken by him as SRPF officer.Referring to points raised in the notice, Singh said: ‘‘No permission is required if the work is of a purely literary character and is done through a publisher,’’ on why he didn’t take permission. As to the question of royalty, he said: ‘‘Till now the publisher has not given me any royalty. As and when (it) comes due, I will not accept it till permission is taken from the government and shall surrender to government whatever is stipulated under the rules.’’In his letter, Singh says: ‘‘Have the DGP and Home Department thought of those officers who would earn money by letting ladies’ bars function the whole night?’’ ‘‘No, we haven’t! The Home Department and the DGP have done nothing for that. Instead, they want to hound me for writing a novel which narrates a fictitious tale of a corrupt police officer and the IAS,’’ the letter said.
