New Delhi: An inquiry by the Union government has ruled that besides other violations, senior IAS officer Ashok Kumar Parmar, posted in Jammu and Kashmir, flouted civil service rules by posting public grievances and other content on social media which was “against the government”.
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had started disciplinary proceedings against the 1992-batch IAS officer under Rule 8 of the All India Services (Discipline & Appeal) Rules, 1969 on November 15 last year, official documents show.
The action against Parmar came days after The Wire reported on his letter to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which had alleged that the J&K administration defied the advice of the Finance and Law departments and amended a multi-crore contract midway to favour a private insurance company.
Although the final report of the inquiry against Parmar, who has seven adverse entries in his ‘Annual Performance Report’ since 2020, has not been prepared yet, the MHA has held that the officer flouted All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968 by posting allegedly unverified content on social media which was “against the government and its policies, achievements and functioning”.
In his defence, Parmar has denied the allegations, arguing that he “only shared the legitimate contents (sic) posted on Twitter which highlights issues of public concern (that) need(ed) attention and immediate action” by the concerned officials of the J&K administration.
Citing a judgement of the Madhya Pradesh high court, which ruled that government officials can’t be punished for posts in private WhatsApp groups, Parmar told the ministry that no order was issued to designate a WhatsApp group of J&K’s administrative secretaries, in which he had posted the controversial posts, as the official group.
“The Government has not issued any circular or made statutory provision for Government employee/office to create WhatsApp group, therefore, any activity of Government employees in the group cannot be linked with serious disciplinary rules. Thus in absence of such a government order, it is at best a private WhatsApp group of officers,” Parmar said in his written defence.
Also read: J&K: Why a Top IAS Officer Has Sought a CBI Probe Into the Flagship Jal Jeevan Mission
The MHA has cited five ‘controversial’ tweets posted in the WhatsApp group by the IAS officer. One of the tweets was authored by Parmar himself. A cursory reading of some of them suggests that they are vague claims of corruption in the government departments, but two of them stand out.
The first was posted on Twitter by one Muzaffer Khan, who spoke about the crisis of unemployment in Jammu and Kashmir: “Unemployment Data Out: Two lakh educated youth among 8 lakh youth unemployed in J&K, reveals RTI. Where is BJP government’s policy for unemployed youth of J&K? Depression is one hike among youth of J&K. Matter of concern.”
The second tweet, for which Parmar has been accused of misconduct, comes across as a cry of anguish by one Mohsin Wani after authorities in J&K’s revenue department allegedly didn’t provide him with a document according to the timelines specified under the Public Service Guarantee Act (PGSA).
“I had applied online for Fard Intikhab in revenue department under PGSA, the deadline was 10 days. Today 24 days have passed by and the patwari doesn’t bother to reply nor is there any accountability. Auto appeal for all PSGA Services is a must.”
The MHA noted that Parmar had flouted Rule 7 of All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968 by posting the tweets in the WhatsApp group.
In the ‘article of charges’, the ministry has also accused Parmar of “undue interference” in departments “beyond his domain” when he was on a visit to Poonch on April 8, 2023 as Administrative Secretary of J&K’s Administrative Reforms Inspections (ARI), Trainings and Grievances Department.
“The decisions taken/instructions issued during his visit to the District point to the undue interference in the working of various departments, which was beyond the domain assigned to his department,” the ministry noted.
According to the official record note of the visit accessed by The Wire, Parmar had issued a slew of directions in connection with the ongoing developmental works and some civic issues in Poonch that were raised with him during a meeting with the district’s panches, sarpanches and other public representatives which was also attended by District Development Commissioner.
Among others, Parmar had directed the Additional Deputy Commissioner of Poonch to probe the alleged diversion of funds meant for a government scheme in the district. In another, the officer directed a senior engineer to take steps for “restoration of all damaged pipes and to ensure supply of safe drinking water” to the inhabitants of Poonch’s Surankote area where drinking water pipelines were damaged a decade back in the 2014 J&K flood.
Citing Rule 4 (i) of the Business Rules under which the ‘Administrative Reforms, Inspections and Redressal of Public Grievances’ are assigned to the ARI Department, Parmar told the ministry that he was “entrusted” by law to carry out inspection of the works undertaken by various government departments.
“The inspection team conducts inspection as per prescribed format and submits its report to the concerned Administrative Department,” Parmar said while denying the allegation.
The ‘article of charges’ also accuses Parmar of leaking the report of an inquiry that he had conducted in 2023 into the alleged misconduct and breach of discipline by an Indian Forest Service officer from J&K before submitting it to the General Administration Department.
The ministry has alleged that Parmar exhibited an “utter lack of professionalism in handling his role as an Inquiry Officer and failed to maintain the secrecy of the enquiry report which was his sole responsibility.”
Parmar responded: “Since I was the author of the inquiry report, it was never classified by me as secret, so the question of its secrecy is totally vague,” the officer told the ministry.
The IAS officer’s alleged involvement in leaking the inquiry report is one of eight counts of alleged professional misconduct and inefficiency, meddling with other government departments and misbehaviour among others that have been slapped on the IAS officer.
In response to the claim that Parmar showed professional inefficiency in the implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), Parmar told the ministry that he had flagged alleged violations in the implementation of the centrally-sponsored scheme to top echelons of the J&K administration because of which he was being targeted.
Parmar has also knocked on the door of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes while accusing J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha and then chief secretary Arun Mehta of “inflicting harassment and humiliation upon him” because of his caste after he highlighted “bunglings” in the implementation of the JJM.
Also read: J&K: IAS Officer From Dalit Community Accuses LG, Chief Secretary of ‘Harassment, Humiliation’
The IAS officer said that he had shot eight letters to the home ministry about a “criminal conspiracy” and “various acts of omission and commission” involving top officials which had allegedly resulted in poor implementation of JJM in J&K while dismissing allegations of “professional inefficiency” as “vague, factually incorrect, biased, prejudiced, and misleading”.
Parmar told the ministry that during his brief, three-month tenure as the administrative secretary of J&K’s Jal Shakti department, he had issued show cause notice to two chief engineers for “dismal performance and professional inefficiency” following which one of them, Manesh Kumar Bhat, from Jammu division, was suspended.
He said that the J&K administration’s approval to the closure of ‘Regular Department Action’ against Bhat “vindicated” his stand that the officer’s “dismal performance and professional inefficiency” led to poor implementation of JJM in J&K. Bhat was awarded the penalty of ‘Censure’ in terms of Rule 30 of the Jammu & Kashmir Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1956 vide Government Order No: 204-JK(JSD) (Dated 25/08/2023).
However, Parmar noted in his reply to the home ministry that no action was taken against Bhat’s counterpart from Kashmir for allegedly violating Clause 7.5.9 and Clause 8.1.12 of Manual for Procurement of Goods, 2017 of General Financial Rules, Central Vigilance Commission guidelines and direction of 6th Apex Committee meeting on June 23, 2022.
In response to the allegations of alleged irregularities, the IAS officer from Bharuch district in Gujarat told the ministry that he has got clearance from J&K’s Vigilance Department to serve in the union territory as recently as 2023 and as such the allegations “must be dropped ab initio”.
The ministry had also alleged that the IAS officer transferred 398 officials in the Jal Shakti department without authorisation. Dismissing the allegation, Parmar responded that the transfers were necessitated due to an acute shortage of staff in the department and that he obtained the approval for all the transfers from R R Bhatnagar, the advisor to LG Sinha.
Pointing to an alleged ‘transfer racket’ in J&K administration involving top officials, Parmar claimed that a senior officer, who is presently serving as additional chief secretary, resorted to unauthorised transfers and centralised the powers of transferring revenue officials in his office by issuing an order in violation of an earlier government order which granted the transfer power to Divisional Commissioners, Deputy Commissioners and Sub Divisional Magistrates.
Earlier, Parmar had raised the issue of the alleged ‘omissions and commissions’ involving top officials of the administration in the allocation of a contract for a universal health insurance scheme in J&K to Bajaj Allianz. The IAS officer had also pointed accusatory fingers at LG Sinha and Dr Mehta after the J&K administration terminated a contract with Anil Ambani’s Reliance General Insurance Company Ltd due to financial irregularities. The case is presently being investigated by the CBI.
