IAS officer's suspension: Centre steps in, assures justice

The Centre on Thursday assured justice will be done to suspended Indian Administrative Service officer Durga Shakti Nagpal, who had clamped down on the mining mafia in Gautam Budh Nagar area of Uttar Pradesh.

 The assurance was given by Minister of State for Personnel V Narayanasamy during a meeting with the delegation of All India IAS Officers' Association. "The minister assured us that he will look into all facts. I have been assured justice will be done," Association's Secretary Sanjay R Bhoos Reddy told reporters in New Delhi after the meeting.

The association, which at present has about 4,737 member (equal to the number of officers of the elite service), has sought immediate revocation of Nagpal's suspension. The ministry, which acts as a nodal department for personnel matters of IAS, is yet to receive a report from Uttar Pradesh government over suspension of the IAS officer.

Nagpal, a 2010 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, was suspended on July 27 ostensibly for ordering demolition of wall of a mosque without following the due process. Her suspension has evoked sharp reaction from opposition parties including the Bharatiya Janata Party and Bahujan Samaj Party, who alleged that she was removed over her action on sand mafia operating in Gautam Budh Nagar area of the state.

Nagpal, as sub-divisional magistrate of Gautam Budh Nagar, has cracked down on sand mafia active in that area. The young IAS officer is at present attached to the Board of Revenue in Lucknow.

Notwithstanding any opposition and requests, the Uttar Pradesh government is considering to chargesheet the suspended officer, a preliminary process to initiate disciplinary proceedings against an officer.