Forty-five retired IAS officers evoked Haryana’s Asmita (pride) while raising objection to the appointment of Vikas Barala as assistant advocate general by the state government.

Vikas, the son of BJP Rajya Sabha MP, Subhas Barala, was accused of stalking the daughter of an IAS officer on an August night, eight years ago, in the state capital of Chandigarh.

On July 18 the Haryana government announced Vikas’ name along with 96 others appointed to the posts of assistant advocate generals, deputy advocate generals, senior deputy advocate generals and additional advocate generals.

“We are at a loss to understand the logic behind the appointment of a person accused of stalking a woman as assistant AG. He will work as the state legal officer, when he is himself on the wrong side of the law in such a serious matter,” the letter reads. “It seems your government failed to consider the existence of a serious criminal case against (the accused) or he would not be appointed being disqualified for such a sensitive post. The appointment also goes against Asmita of Haryana.”

The retired IAS officers, who have served at both the state and centre, said the Haryana government had ignored Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Beti Bachao slogan by going ahead with the appointment.

On the night of August 4, 2017 Vikas and his friend Ashish Kumar had allegedly chased the daughter of a senior IAS officer, while she was returning home from a night club in Chandigarh.

A law student with the Kurukshetra University then, Vikas and his friend were arrested on August 9 and charges were pressed under section 354D (stalking), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 365 (attempt to kidnap) of the Indian Penal Code.

Both Vikas and his friend were allegedly drunk. His father Subhas, a prominent Jat leader in the BJP, was then doubling as the state unit chief as well as MLA in the Haryana Assembly from the Tohana constituency.

The charges were framed in October of the same year, but the trial is still pending. He was kept at Chandigarh’s Model Jail at Burail and was granted bail in January 2018.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court had allowed him to appear in his law examination in December 2017.

The retired IAS officers have referred to a 2011 judgement by the Supreme Court of a person, who was appointed as the chief of the Central Vigilance Commission while facing corruption charges.

“Similar facts apply in this case,” the letter states. “We request you to revoke his appointment forthwith, as his continuance in the post is likely to affect the outcome of the case in which he is accused.”

The former bureaucrats have also requested the Haryana government to fast-track the trial which has been pending for nearly seven years.