CAT lashes out at Bihar Government for not protecting IAS officer

New Delhi: The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has lashed out at the Bihar government for not providing security to an IAS officer, who has repeatedly complained of threat to his life from the "transport mafia", saying it apprehended a "repeat of Satyendra Dubey murder case".

The Principal Bench of the CAT, headed by its Chairman Justice Permod Kohli, said it was the duty of the Centre and the Bihar government to protect his life.

The Tribunal was hearing a complaint filed by 2013 batch IAS officer Jitendra Gupta, seeking inter-state transfer from Bihar to Haryana, alleging threat to his life for acting tough against the 'transport mafia' in Bihar.

"If he is not taken out of Bihar, we are afraid, there could be a repeat of Satyendra Dubey murder case, in which a bright young engineer (Dubey) working as Project Director in NHAI, Gaya, Bihar who had apprehended threat to his life and had sought security, which was not provided, was murdered by the road construction mafia," the bench, which also comprised member KN Shrivastava, said.

Observing it was unfortunate that no action was taken by the state to provide personal security to the officer and his family members, the CAT said "it is the duty of the respondents (Centre and state) to save the life of the applicant and, prima facie, there is a threat to his life. This can easily be done if the applicant is taken out of Bihar for the present."

The tribunal also quashed the Centre's decision declining the request of the officer to be transferred to Haryana, holding it "ab initio illegal, arbitrary and unreasonable" and asked it to consider his name again for inter-state transfer.

Gupta has alleged that the mafia, in connivance with the state vigilance department, has implicated him in a false case alleging that he seized four trucks on July 3, 2016 and demanded bribe for releasing them.