New Delhi: The suspension of Nagpal, a 28-year-old 2009-batch officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) by the Uttar Pradesh government July 29, has led to a public outcry.
Rules will “be followed” in the case of suspended IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal, said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday.
“There are rules laid down. They will be followed. We are in touch with the state government to get details of the case,” the prime minister said here in response to a question from a mediaperson on the government’s stand on Durga Shakti’s case.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi has asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to ensure fair treatment for Nagpal and stressed need for safeguards to protect officials “working to uphold rule of law”.
Not long after the PM’s statement, came Akhilesh Yadav’s comment: “If an officer makes a mistake, he or she is punished, just like children are punished in school. That is how a government works.”
The war of words signals trouble for the Centre’s Food Security Bill, with Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party threatening to vote against the flagship measure over the controversy.
Durga Shakti Nagpal was shunted out on July 27 as the Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Gautam Budh Nagar hours after she asked villagers to pull down the wall of the mosque. The ostensible reason was fear of “communal tension”, but Ms Nagpal’s supporters allege she was victimized for her crackdown on the illegal sand mining mafia.
The suspension of Nagpal, a 28-year-old 2009-batch officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) by the Uttar Pradesh government July 29, has led to a public outcry.
