UP govt orders further inquiry against Durga

LUCKNOW: Not satisfied with suspended IAS officer DurgaSakthiNagpal's response to the charges levelled against her by the state, the UP government on Thursday ordered "further inquiry" into the matter. On August 4, a week after she was suspended, the government had formally chargesheetedNagpal. She was accused of demolishing the boundary wall of a mosque in Kadalpur village in GautamBudhNagar, a decision which the government called, "untimely, lacking in vision and reflecting poor administrative acumen."

Putting off her reinstatement by at least a fortnight, the chief minister on Thursday appointed principal secretary, home, RM Srivastava as the inquiry officer in the case. Srivastava will now visit Kadalpur village to investigate the matter. The state has also appointed Rakesh Chandra, special secretary, home, as the presenting officer in Nagpal's case. The duo has been asked to turn in their report to the state government in 15 days. Senior government officials said the findings of Srivastava's report will decide the future course of action. While Srivastava will investigate the matter, Chandra, as presenting officer, will inform Nagpal about the charges against her as well as record her explanations and defence.

Sources said the inquiry was ordered because Nagpal's response "did not match the government records, particularly pertaining to the ownership of the land on which the mosque was being constructed". Going all out to show it will not buckle under the sustained pressure to revoke Nagpal's suspension, however, the government now appears unwilling to take any short-cuts in reinstating her. Though her eventual reinstatement, sources said, is a given, the government is at present standing ground on the charges against her. Even the transfer of GB Nagar DM Kumar Ravi Kant on Wednesday night was, in fact, linked to Nagpal's case and was allegedly ordered to ensure the investigation remains unencumbered. Ravi Kant in his report to the state government had exonerated Nagpal for the actions she took in Kadalpur. On Wednesday, after a bureaucratic reshuffle, he was put on the waitlist.

On August 4, the state government had served a chargesheet on Nagpal, calling her actions in Kadalpur village "untimely, lacking in vision and reflecting poor administrative acumen". Apart from blaming Nagpal for not following "laid down procedure" in demolishing the wall of a mosque in GB Nagar on July 27, the state had also said her actions were unnecessary since, "there was no tension or complaints about the construction of a wall surrounding the mosque in Kadalpur village of Gautam Budh Nagar".

In her five-page reply, Nagpal cited the Supreme Court orders to defend her actions in Kadalpur. Nagpal, who was SDM Gautam Budh Nagar when she was suspended on July 27, explained how the events unfolded, following which the boundary wall of the disputed mosque in Kadalpur was demolished.