AAP slams Centre for sacking AIIMS whistleblower officer
23 Aug 2014 5:56 AM IST
Kejriwal alleged that Chaturvedi was removed from his post after he took the action against a lady doctor who has been treating upon senior BJP leader and union foreign minister Sushma Swaraj for the last few years and is very well known to her. He also said that Chaturvedi exposed a senior IAS officer of Himachal Pradesh, who worked as a deputy director (Administration) at AIIMS.
The party demanded that the resignation of union health minister Harsh Vardhan for removing an honest officer from the post. ‘Harsh Vardhan should be immediately sacked or should resign for removing an honest officer. The IAS officer against whom Chaturvedi had initiated the complaint is close to a senior BJP leader. He took action against the IAS officer CBI registered a case against him. The IAS officer in question could not become chief secretary of the state due to the allegations’, said Kejriwal in a press briefing.
He said that the logic given by Harsh Vardhan that Chaturvedi’s appointment required Chief Vigilance Commission’s approval was wrong as AIIMS is not included in the list of government institutions that require CVC’s nod for appointment of a CVO. ‘If CVC’s approval was really an issue, the minister could have approached the CVC and obtained the same, rather than removing an honest officer. All you require is good intention and will,’ Kejriwal said.
The AAP leader added that there were attempts to remove the Haryana cadre Indian Forest Service Officer as the CVO from day one. ‘Under influence of some powerful vested interests, there were attempts to remove Chaturvedi within a few months of his posting. The parliamentary standing committee took umbrage and sought to know why it should not be treated as breach of privilege of the Parliament. Union Health Secretary had then given specific commitment to Parliamentary Standing Committee on 6 June, 2012 that Sanjeev Chaturvedi would be posted as the CVO in AIIMS,’ Kejriwal said.
The party demanded that the resignation of union health minister Harsh Vardhan for removing an honest officer from the post. ‘Harsh Vardhan should be immediately sacked or should resign for removing an honest officer. The IAS officer against whom Chaturvedi had initiated the complaint is close to a senior BJP leader. He took action against the IAS officer CBI registered a case against him. The IAS officer in question could not become chief secretary of the state due to the allegations’, said Kejriwal in a press briefing.
He said that the logic given by Harsh Vardhan that Chaturvedi’s appointment required Chief Vigilance Commission’s approval was wrong as AIIMS is not included in the list of government institutions that require CVC’s nod for appointment of a CVO. ‘If CVC’s approval was really an issue, the minister could have approached the CVC and obtained the same, rather than removing an honest officer. All you require is good intention and will,’ Kejriwal said.
The AAP leader added that there were attempts to remove the Haryana cadre Indian Forest Service Officer as the CVO from day one. ‘Under influence of some powerful vested interests, there were attempts to remove Chaturvedi within a few months of his posting. The parliamentary standing committee took umbrage and sought to know why it should not be treated as breach of privilege of the Parliament. Union Health Secretary had then given specific commitment to Parliamentary Standing Committee on 6 June, 2012 that Sanjeev Chaturvedi would be posted as the CVO in AIIMS,’ Kejriwal said.
Next Story
