New Delhi: The Union home ministry, on May 31, served a show-cause notice to former West Bengal chief secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay, hours before Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that he would retire and not report to the Centre in response to its hasty recall of him.
The show-cause notice was issued under a stringent provision of the Disaster Management Act that entails imprisonment up to two years.
Bandopadhyay had been thrust in a power tussle after the central Department of Personal Training (DoPT) controversially recalled the top officer days after it had approved a three-month extension of his tenure in view of his role in tackling the aftermath of Cyclone Yaas and the COVID-19 crisis.
The Centre’s recall of Bandyopadhyay came after the bureaucrat, along with the chief minister, skipped a meeting held by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the cyclone’s impact.
Bandyopadhyay was due to retire on May 31. By retiring on the date, he has, in effect, turned down the extension sanctioned by the Central and state government.
‘Violation of Disaster Management Act’
A home ministry official told PTI that Bandopadhyay had been showcaused “for refusing to comply with lawful direction of the central government in violation of Section 51-B of the Disaster Management Act, 2005.”
“The officer has been asked to reply within three days to the notice,” the unnamed official told PTI.
According to Section 51 (b), “Whosoever refuses to comply with any direction given by or on behalf of the central government or the state government or the National Executive Committee or the State Executive Committee or the District Authority under this Act, shall on conviction be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with fine, or with both.”
“And if such obstruction or refusal to comply with directions results in loss of lives or imminent danger thereof, shall on conviction be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years…,” the Act says.
The Union Home Secretary is the chairman of the national executive committee under the Disaster Management Act, which is currently in force due to the COVID-19 pandemic until June 30.
The Hindu has noted in its report on the development that, “Though the DoPT is the cadre-controlling authority of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers, the show cause notice was served under provisions of the DM Act, which is under the purview of the Home Ministry.”
The showcause notice mentions that Bandopadhyay “abstaining himself” from a meeting chaired by the head of the National Disaster Management Authority, the Prime Minister, amounted to the violation of the Act.
The Wire has reported Chief Minister Banerjee as having said that she and Bandopadhyay skipped the meeting at West Medinipur’s Kalaikunda because she had already met him and handed over her request for a relief package of Rs 20,000 crore. “I could not stay in the meeting because of the state’s administrative review meeting at Digha,” Banerjee told the media.
Also read: ‘Indefensible’: Former Bureaucrats Slam Centre’s Unilateral Move to Transfer Bengal Chief Secy
On the same day when the notice was allegedly sent to Bandopadhyay, Banerjee had written to Modi, requesting him to withdraw the Centre’s order and said her government could not release him at this “critical” hour.
“The government of Bengal cannot release, and is not releasing, its Chief Secretary at this critical hour, on the basis of our understanding that the earlier order of extension, issued after lawful consultation in accordance with applicable laws, remains operational and valid,” the letter said.
In a press conference, Banerjee had said Bandopadhyay had become victim to an act of political vendetta by the Centre.
Even before news broke of the showcause notice, The Wire and other outlets had reported on former high-ranking bureaucrats noting that such unilateral action by the Centre – to suddenly recall a bureaucrat after granting him extension was indefensible.
At least four bureaucrats went on record noting that the Centre appeared to be out of bounds in attempting to implement a sudden recall as Bandopadhyay’s and held that such a move must be preceded by consultation with the relevant state government and the bureaucrat in question.
(With PTI inputs)
