Buta Singh: More trouble

Patna, Aug. 2: Bihar chief secretary G.S. Kang, whose protest against the transfer of 17 IPS officers threatens to singe the United Progressive Alliance in the state, today said home minister Shivraj Patil’s statement to Parliament was misleading.

Patil had yesterday told the House that the transfers were decided by a committee authorised to do so.

“There was never such a committee and the decision was never ever taken by it. If I am correct, the governor (Buta Singh) has already backtracked from his stand and said only informal discussions took place on the matter,” said the chief secretary, who has gone on long leave after the transfers.

It was implied that Patil had made the statement in Parliament on the basis of feedback given to him earlier by Buta Singh, who reached Delhi yesterday after the Centre summoned him.

Just before leaving for the capital, the governor broke protocol and called on Kang at his residence but the chief secretary refused to budge from his stand.

Now it is up to the governor to explain whether he allowed Parliament to be misled.

At the end of an acrimonious debate and amid a walkout by the Opposition, Parliament tonight agreed to extend President’s rule in Bihar by another six months beyond September 7, adds PTI.

During the debate, NDA leaders hit out at the row between Buta and Kang, describing it as “embarrassing”, and asked the Centre to clear the air. They accused the governor of coming under pressure on the transfers.

Kang also received support from his colleagues who said he was fighting a battle to salvage the prestige of the office of chief secretary. He agreed: “They were trying to lower the prestige of this office. I put up resistance. I have made life so much easier for my successor.”

Kang, a 1970 batch IAS officer, last took long leave in 1983 when he went with his family to the Himachal hills. “That was 22 years ago. Apart from that, I have not taken any earned leave. Of course, I have had to dash to Delhi and other places for a day or two, if you can call that leave,” he said.

The chief secretary said he had informally come to know about the meeting of the IAS Officers’ Association, which requested the governor to alter the “background and circumstances” that forced him to proceed on long leave on Friday. Asked what the association meant by “background and circumstances”, Kang said: “They must have meant bypassing the office of the chief secretary in taking decisions.”

Colleagues describe him as a pleasant person and an efficient bureaucrat, who can take quick decisions.

“From whatever I know of Kang, he could not be fighting a battle for personal prestige with governor Buta Singh. The chief secretary, I am certain, will not return to work unless steps are taken for the restoration of that prestige,” said a senior IAS officer who has worked with him.

But the transfer of 17 IPS officers, including Siwan police superintendent Ratan Sanjay, cannot now be undone, another IAS officer said. The Election Commission’s directive today on not transferring key officials without its consent has ensured as much.

“What the governor can do is to assure the chief secretary that the procedures and conventions, wherein the top bureaucrat is a key part of the decision-making process, would be followed in letter and in spirit from now on,” the IAS officer said.