Patna, May 19: Lesson One for bureaucrats serving in Bihar: Don’t ever take on Laloo Prasad Yadav or any of his associates.

Lesson Two: Lesson One holds true even under President’s rule.

Two young IAS officers, Chandrakant Kumar Anil and K.K. Pathak, the district magistrates of Siwan and Gopalganj respectively, have found this out to their cost.

Appointed the same day three months ago at the behest of the Election Commission with a mandate to keep their districts peaceful during the Assembly polls, Chandrakant Kumar Anil and K.K. Pathak had done a remarkably successful job of it.

By banning Siwan MP Mohammad Shahabuddin and Gopalganj MP Sadhu Yadav, who is also Laloo Prasad’s brother-in-law, from their districts for one year. The politicians, both RJD leaders, had terrorised their constituencies.

Result One: The RJD lost several seats in both districts.

Result Two: Neither Anil nor Pathak has lasted even 100 days in his post. Today, the 98th day of their stints, they were given transfer orders and asked to cool their heels in Patna.

The decision ? taken by Governor Buta Singh, the Congress veteran who has been running Bihar since March 7 ? is being seen as punishment for the officials for daring to rub Laloo Prasad the wrong way.

Chief secretary K.A.H. Subramanian, however, said both officials had made “personal requests” to be transferred.

“Anil’s wife Shobha Ohatker, a senior IPS officer, would soon be going to Maharashtra on deputation. Anil’s request for a similar deputation is in the final stages. Pathak had asked to be shifted to Patna on grounds of health,” the chief secretary, who is due to retire on May 31, said.

Subramanian, serving as the governor’s adviser, is expected to continue in that capacity after his retirement.

“The government suddenly seems to have turned extremely considerate towards officials, accepting all their personal requests,” a middle-rung IAS officer said scornfully.

“Anil could have easily been allowed to wait till his deputation was formally cleared. And, to the best of my knowledge, Pathak is in fine health.

“We shall wait and see if personal requests from other officers are so eagerly accepted from now on.”

The BJP and the CPI(ML) attacked the governor for “letting Laloo Prasad call the shots” even under President’s rule.

“It is a warning to all upright bureaucrats. They must never exceed the limits set by those who ruined Bihar. They must never dare to take on the high and the mighty,” BJP vice-president Sushil Kumar Modi said.

During his short tenure, Anil had slapped four criminal cases on Shahabuddin, taking the total number against him to a whopping 40. The MP, however, is yet to be convicted in any.

Among the high-profile cases in which Shahabuddin is involved is the murder of Chandra Shekhar, president of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union.

Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan had supported the two district magistrates. LJP state president Narendra Singh said the transfers have “tarnished the image of President’s rule as the two officials were performing extremely well”.