Delhi Assembly secretary chargesheeted for criticising Centre

Despite several requests by Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel to the information and broadcasting minister, M. Venkiah Naidu, that the services of Vidhan Sabha secretary Prasanna Kumar Suryadevara be continued, Prasar Bharati has chargesheeted the officer for his failure to maintain absolute integrity and devotion to his duty by not taking up his new assignment with the All-India Radio (AIR) and for criticising the Centre in an article in an English daily.

“In doing so, Prasanna Kumar has failed to maintain absolute integrity and devotion to his duty and thereby acted in a manner unbecoming of a government servant in violation of Rules 3 (1) (i), 3 (1) (ii) and 3 (1) (iii) of the Central Civil Services (conduct) Rules, 1964,” an order to this effect issued by the public broadcaster said. Now, the officer will have to file his reply to the chargesheet, following which Prasar Bharati will take a final call on the contentious matter.

It was on the request of Mr Goel that the AIR director general (DG) had given a no objection certificate for relieving Mr Suryadevara from the Rajya Sabha Secretariat to join, on deputation, the Delhi government from July last year. On August 29, the services department of the Delhi government had relieved the officer from the post of the Assembly secretary and repatriated him to his parent organisation. Despite repeated reminders, Mr Suryadevara did not report to his new assignment with the AIR DG.

By not taking up the new assignment in his parent cadre, Prasar Bharati said the officer had failed to maintain absolute integrity and devotion to his duty. The public broadcaster said that the officer had criticised certain actions of the Centre in his article for withholding the presidential assent to an amendment that was cleared a year ago in violation of the conduct rules.

Earlier, the Assembly Speaker had written to Mr Naidu that he had instructed Mr Suryadevara not to respond to a memorandum served upon him for not reporting to duty to the AIR DG and for writing an article in the newspaper whereby he had criticised the Union government in violation of the Central rules. The Speaker had urged Mr Naidu to allow Mr Suryadevara to continue as the Assembly secretary on a permanent basis.

This was the fourth occasion when Mr Goel had requested the Union minister to allow Mr Suryadevara to continue as the secretary of the Delhi Assembly. In reply to one such communication, Mr Naidu had even assured the Speaker that he would get the matter examined. Before Mr Naidu could take a call on the matter, the officer was directed by the Prasar Bharati to immediately report to work with the AIR. The Prasar Bharati directive had not gone well with the Speaker who, in turn, had directed the officer not to follow any such instructions but continue to discharge his duties as the Assembly Speaker until further orders. Even the Delhi Assembly in its sitting on September 9 had passed a resolution endorsing the Speaker’s decision to retain the officer as the Vidhan Sabha secretary. The Speaker said that during the course of the short duration discussion, he had also made a request to Mr Naidu on behalf of the House to allow Mr Suryadevara to be absorbed in the Assembly as its secretary on a permanent basis.