Moving against IAS man, Govt takes first step

L V Saptarishi, the 1969 batch IAS officer who has gone public with his allegations against the Election Commission, now faces disciplinary ...

L V Saptarishi, the 1969 batch IAS officer who has gone public with his allegations against the Election Commission, now faces disciplinary action from the government.

The Ministry of Rural Development today set in motion the process to proceed against Saptarishi. Permission is being sought from the Cabinet Secretary and the Prime Minister’s Office for action under the civil rules against Saptarishi for abusing a constitutional authority at a public forum by holding a press conference.

Election Commissioners T S Krishnamurthy, B B Tandon and N Gopalaswami also met President A P J Abdul Kalam today and presented before him the facts and details of their decisions during last year’s elections.

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Ironically, RJD leader and Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh will have to okay the move against Saptarishi whose allegations against the EC have come as a shot in the arm for RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav who contested from Chhapra.

Saptarishi and another IAS official, B B Pradhan, alleged that the ECs countermanded the Chhapra polls as they were casteist and batting for the then NDA government.

Both Saptarishi and Pradhan are now under Raghuvansh Prasad Singh in the Ministry of Rural Development.

Saptarishi not only wrote a letter on May 6 to the Law Minister H R Bhardwaj, complaining about casteist remarks by two Election Commissioners during the Lok Sabha elections last year, but also held a press conference in New Delhi yesterday to attack the EC.

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The Ministry has also asked Pradhan to refrain from any interface with the press. Pradhan, currently with the Ministry of Rural Development as Director (Rural Connectivity), was the DM in Saran during the Lok Sabha polls last year.

It was his report that was the basis of Special Observer Saptarishi’s report to the EC.

Pradhan, a 1987 batch Bihar cadre officer, was brought on Central deputation to look after the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) in the last week of April.

Meanwhile, the India International Centre (IIC) has registered an FIR against Saptarishi for trespassing and holding a press conference in their premises without proper permission.