Guwahati, Nov. 16: Senior Assam bureaucrat V.S. Bhaskar has been suspended for "misdemeanour" during a farewell party hosted by chief secretary Vinod Kumar Pipersenia for the general-officer-commanding (GOC) of the army's 4 Corps, Lt Gen. Sarath Chand, here last night.
The IAS officer allegedly created a ruckus in an inebriated condition at an official dinner party, raising eyebrows.
Bhaskar, a 1985-batch IAS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, is currently additional chief secretary of tourism and information technology. An official source told The Telegraph that Bhaskar's alleged drunken behaviour created an embarrassing situation for all those present at the party, forcing Dispur to take drastic action.
The incident happened at the Civil Services Officers' Institute (CSOI) located on the Assam Administrative Staff College campus at Khanapara.
"Such behaviour by a senior IAS officer is unprecedented in the state or at least I haven't heard of it before," the source said.
The official notification issued today, suspending the officer, said, "It appears from the report received from the chief secretary that V.S. Bhaskar...behaved in a manner unbecoming of a senior officer of his rank in the official farewell dinner hosted by the chief secretary, Assam, to bid farewell to Lt Gen. Sarath Chand, GoC, 4 Corps at CSOI, Guwahati, and that his misconduct and misdemeanour have brought extreme shame and dishonour to the entire state government.
"Now, therefore, pending drawal of disciplinary proceeding, V.S. Bhaskar...is placed under suspension under Rule 3 (1) of the All India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1969 with immediate effect," said the notification, signed by S.C. Das, additional chief secretary, personnel (A) department.
"He was totally out of control last night and even disobeyed the chief secretary. It was absolutely alcohol-induced bad behaviour," a senior official who was present at the dinner said.
"As things started taking an ugly turn, some officials tried to pacify him but could not do so as he was in no mood to listen to anyone. He basically spoilt the party and put the hosts as well as the guests in an extremely awkward position," he added.
"In a drunken stupor he even tripped and fell," another source said.
This is not the first time Bhaskar has landed in a controversy.
When he was posted as the deputy director-general in the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), he was charged with sexually abusing and harassing a woman IRS officer working as assistant director-general in the same office in May, 2011.
