Khattar says past CMs also held CID charge

Chandigarh: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday said the CID remained under the CM's charge during the terms of Bansi Lal and Devi Lal, an assertion that appears to counter the home minister's claim over the department.

Khattar, however, sought to play down the row over who is in charge of the important Criminal Investigation Department (CID), the state government's intelligence gathering agency.

It is not a big issue. It is a technical issue. We will find some way out in that technical issue and we have discussed this matter, Khattar told reporters in Panchkula. It is not that this has happened for the first time. During the Chaudhary Devi Lal regime, the home ministry was given to Sampat Singh. At that time also, the CID and vigilance departments were held by the CM, he said.

Similarly, when Mani Ram Godara was made the home minister, Bansi Lal did the same thing, he said, adding there were examples from some other states as well. There is a technical lacuna and this problem will be solved by removing that technical lacuna, the chief minister said. Earlier this week, Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij had taken exception to two state government websites that showed that the CID was held by Khattar.

"Governments are not run by websites. They are run by the rule of law," Vij had said on Wednesday. Vij had asserted that according to the Business of Haryana Government (Allocation) Rules, 1974, the CID was part of the home department.

He said this allocation can be changed, but cited procedure which he claimed must be followed. The CM is supreme and, if he wishes, he can also change it. But for that, it has to be passed by the Cabinet and then later in Vidhan Sabha, Vij had said.

Later, the state government removed the content showing the CID among the CM's portfolios from the websites.

The Haryana chief minister holds 17 different portfolios at present. The home portfolio, along with other ministries like health and urban local bodies, was allotted to Anil Vij after the Bharatiya Janata Party-Jannayak Janta Party came to power last year. Earlier, there were reports that Vij had pulled up the CID for allegedly not sharing information sought by him on the assembly polls and also marked a dissent note to the chief minister over the transfer of nine IPS officers without taking him into confidence.