Senior IPS officer J.K. Sharma surrendered the additional charge of director-general of Tihar prison after lieutenant-governor Najeeb Jung reprimanded him. The country’s largest prison has been headless for the past one-and-a-half months after its head Alok Kumar Verma was appointed as the commissioner of the Delhi police by the Union home ministry.
Mr Sharma took charge as the director-general (Tihar) just for an hour and later surrendered the post on Tuesday. Unfazed over the development, Mr Sharma expressed his happiness to head the prison only after proper orders are issued by the lieutenant-governor. The embarrassing situation arose only due to ongoing confrontation between the lieutenant-governor and the AAP government.
Mr Sharma is learnt to have sent a letter to principal secretary S.N. Sahai, who heads the home department of the Delhi government, stating that the “order has not been issued with the approval of the competent authority,” so he will not be able to take charge of the Tihar Jail.
In his letter, Mr Sharma said: “I took over the charge of director-general (prisons) in addition to my own duties as director-general (home guards), but since the order referred above has not been issued with the approval of competent authority, hence the charge taken over by undersigned (him) is hereby returned to the earlier officer, who was holding the charge. It is further informed that I will be happy to resume the charge on approval of the competent authority.”
The AAP government on Tuesday had issued an order giving Mr Sharma, who heads the home guards and works under the Kejriwal government, an additional charge of prisons without taking prior approval of the lieutenant-governor. Soon after the AAP government issued orders on Tuesday afternoon, the 1982 batch officer, Mr Sharma took the charge of the D-G (Tihar). However, within a few minutes Mr Jung pulled up Mr Sharma and asked him to report to Raj Niwas.
Unhappy with Mr Sharma’s decision, Mr Jung reprimanded him and asked him to surrender the post at the earliest. Mr Jung also said that if he does not comply with his directions, he would issue and an order declaring his new posting as null and void.
Mr Sharma, considered to be a confidant of city police chief Alok Verma, has expressed his desire to return to the Delhi police as the special commissioner of the administration wing. Or, he wants to be posted as the D-G (Tihar).
