Verma sacked on What's App,

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Lokmat Exclusive

Verma sacked on What's App,

top IB officials searched his office,

Took away hard discs, files photo copies

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, Oct. 25

Murky details of midnight coup at the CBI headquarters revealed that its Director Alok Verma was sacked on What's App of his mobile as 1 am yesterday.

The sack order was sent through What's App as an officer of the Department of Personnel under the Prime Minister failed to deliver it physically at Verma's residence at 12.55 am. The security guards posted at Verma's Janpath residence refused to receive the letter saying that the “Saheb has gone to bed.”

Without delivering the sack order, everything would have come to a grinding halt. M Nageshwar Rao could not have taken over as acting chief of the CBI, there would have been no en-mass transfers and no search & seize operation of Verma and his officers premises.

Everybody in the government, right from the PM downwards to National Security Adviser Ajit Doval to deputy principal secretary P K Mishra to Lok Ranjan, additional secretary in the DoPT who signed the actual sack order were keeping their finger crossed in their offices.

Finally, Ajit Doval told Lok Ranjan in the DoPT to send the sack order on what's app. Lok Ranjan didn't have his mobile and that too was provided by the PMO. And fortunately for the government, Verma opened his mobile phone and saw the what's app message. The moment, Lok Ranjan saw the blue lines blinking, the sack order was considered as delivered.

The entire machinery swung into action and a team of eight officers of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) rushed to the CBI headquarters and took control of the two floors where top officers used to work. Even Nageshwar Rao who was made the acting Director was told politely to stay put in his room after a brief visit to Verma's chamber on 11^th floor. The importance of the raid could be gauged from the fact that an officer of the rank of the additional secretary was heading it. They took out hard disks of verma's computers, made photocopies of all the files in his room and sniffed every paper trail. Similarly, another group of officers scanned all the files and computers of A K Bassi, deputy SP who had raided and arrested his another DSP colleague Devender Kumar two days ago. The offices of A K Sharma, Joint Director (Policy) was also thoroughly searched. No one in the CBI was allowed to enter the two floors of the CBI building until the IB sleuths left the place.

It is still a mystery as to what the IB was searching for. Contrary to reports, the government was not unduly worried about the Rafale probe issue as Verma had sent the papers to A K Sharma. These papers were given to the CBI by Prashant Bhushan and routinely sent to Sharma.

But the fact that all hard disks of computers of all these transferred officers was taken away by the IB shows that it was sniffing at something else. It may also be mentioned that A K Sharma who is also a Gujrat cadre IPS officer and trusted lieutenant of PM Modi was only divested of the crucial policy division and not shunted out of Delhi. He has been retained in Delhi as head of the defunct MDMA which is probing Rajiv Gandhi assassination case for 27 years. Why he chose to side with Verma instead of Rakesh Asthana is still a mystery.

Ends 

PMO plays tough, another min gets jolt

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Exclusive Report

A Cabinet minister is normally entitled to appoint 15 officers including PS, OSD and those on other ranks. Since Chaudhary Birender Singh holds the charge of three more departments, he can appoint a personal staff of 28 persons.

 Birender Singh loses two OSDs

￭ New transfer policy for private secretaries too

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, Nov 22: 

The Prime Minister's Office continues to play tough when it comes to hiring the private secretaries (PS) or Officers on Special Duty (OSDs) or personal staff of the ministers in the government. Even after 18 months into the office, the ministers in the NDA government are still struggling to find personal staff "acceptable" to the PMO. 

The latest shocker came to Union rural development minister Chaudhary Birender Singh who was told by the PMO that the appointments of two OSDs cannot be approved. Incidentally, one of the two OSDs was functioning in with the minister for the past 10 months. His file was sent for approval to the PMO immediately after being appointed 10 months ago. But the PMO rejected it now. Since he is a retired IRS officer, he was drawing his pension and doesn't suffer financially. But the other OSD is an advocate and politically close to the minister.

A Cabinet minister is normally entitled to appoint 15 officers including PS, OSD and those on other ranks. Since Chaudhary Birender Singh holds the charge of three more departments, he can appoint a personal staff of 28 persons. Birender Singh was reportedly upset with the decision and reported to have taken up the issue with the PMO as well. But to no avail. It may be mentioned that even Union home minister Rajnath Singh, HRD minister Smriti Irani, minority affairs minister Najma Heptualla, consumer affairs minister Ram Vilas Paswan and a couple of others were not allowed to retain the officers of their choice. Rajnath Singh's officer was repatriated prematurely while Smriti Irani's OSD was given marching orders after he worked for 10 months.

A highly placed source in the PMO explained that the appointment of private persons in the ministerial staff is closely scrutinized at various levels in the revenue, home, IB, RAW & other departments. The ministers may appoint some of their favourites in their personal staff. But certain persons are not found fit after the inquiry and proposals are rejected. 

The PMO had conveyed to the ministers last year that no sanction will be granted to the person for appointment if he had worked during the UPA regime or for that matter in the United Front governments. Earlier, even lower rank staff members were not allowed to join. But this rule was relaxed.

Even on Friday last (November 20), the Department of Personnel under the PMO issued fresh guidelines with regard to Rotational Transfer Policy (RTP) for private secretaries belonging to the Central Secretariat Services. The PMO wants that duration of PS' working in various ministries and departments be for a fixed tenure and they must be rotated. The continuance of an officer for a longer duration in the same ministry and the same department is not considered appropriate by the present dispensation. All departments have been directed to submit details by the end of this month about such private secretaries working with them.