As many as 71 retired bureaucrats have written an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, protesting against the government’s move to grant the Crime Investigation Bureau (CBI) prosecution sanction for Sindhushree Khullar and other former and serving senior bureaucrats, in relation to the INX Media Case.
The bureaucrats expressed their apprehension about the “selective targeting” of retried and serving officers in a bid to gain “narrow political advantages.”
The Central government had issued a sanction to the CBI to prosecute Sindhushree Khullar, a former NITI Aayog chief, and three other officers – Anup Pujari, Prabodh Saxena and Rabindra Prasad – in connection with the Financial Investment Promotion Board’s (FIPB) clearance granted to the INX Media in 2007.
Veteran Congress leader and former Finanace Minister, P Chidambaran, is already lodged in the Tihar jail as the clearance was granted during his tenure as the Union Finance Minister.
“It is most unfortunate that officers, especially those no longer in service, are made to bear the brunt of criminal proceedings that originate from the settling of political scores,” ANI quoted the letter as saying.
The retired officers asserted that the prosecution of officers would have “dangerous consequences” on the serving officers and that such actions would prevent honest and diligent officers from taking important decisions.
The letter was signed by top former civil servants including former National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon, Cabinet Secretary KM Chandrashekar, Finance Secretaries KM Mitra, Narendra Sisodia, former RBI deputy governor Ravi Vira Gupta and others.
The signatories also demanded that files are not reopened after a certain period of time. They also stated that this move will “dampen” the government’s efforts to provide legal protection to the bureaucrats from Prevention of Corruption Act in discharge of their duties.
The INX Media case revolves around the loopholes in granting FIPB clearance to INX Media for receiving funds up to Rs 305 crore from abroad.
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