The corridors of power in Chandigarh are abuzz with the story of an IAS officer caught with the wife of the state chief secretary in a car, allegedly indulging in ‘‘objectionable activities.’’ Though there is no registered case, the incident continues to create ripples with politicians getting into the picture.The Panchkula police let off Kalpana Ratra, wife of Punjab Chief Secretary Y.S. Ratra, and Punjab Principal Secretary, Excise and Taxation and Industries and Commerce, Mukul Joshi, after detailed questioning on Tuesday night following a complaint that the two were allegedly indulging in ‘‘objectionable activities.’’According to the daily diary report (DDR) registered at the Sector 5 Police Station in Panchkula, the police received a mukhbiri (secret information) that a man and a woman were acting in ‘‘an objectionable manner’’ in a car (CH01Y 9869) outside House No. 118 in Sector 9 of Panchkula. The house in question belongs to Dr Madan Gulati.The police then swung into action and Kalpana and Joshi were brought to the Sector 5 police station around 7 pm. They were questioned by a police team led by DSP (HQs) Panchkula, Deshbandhu. According to the DDR, the duo was let off around 8.15 pm. The duo was reportedly let off after Joshi identified himself and sought the intervention of a very senior Punjab IAS officer.Joshi dismissed the incident as a ‘‘misunderstanding which was sorted out’’. Talking to The Indian Express, he said: ‘‘All I want to say is that there was a simple misunderstanding with the police. We were in a car and they merely asked us to verify our antecedents. There was no misconduct on our part. Nothing had happened.’’Refusing to comment on the reports, he said: ‘‘Why don’t you ask the police? Let them explain. Had there been any offence, they wouldn’t have let us off.’’ When asked about the three hours they spent in the police station, he said: ‘‘The police followed the correct procedure in verifying our antecedents. Once they’d done that, they let us off.’’ On his name in the DDR, he said: ‘‘It was just a complaint.’’ Chief Secretary Ratra refused to comment.Pressed for comment on the issue, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh said: ‘‘I do not believe anything like this has happened.’’ ‘‘I am briefed every morning and if such a thing had happened, it would have come to my notice,’’ he added.But his political rival, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Parkash Singh Badal was quick to latch on to the issue. He sought an explanation from Singh for giving a clean chit to the senior IAS officer who reportedly indulged in an ‘‘immoral act.’’
