Partap Singh Bajwa: Punjab officers have scant respect for people

Chandigarh, January 11

Slamming the bureaucracy for taking the people for a ride, Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Partap Singh Bajwa on Wednesday claimed that the crisis was the outcome of the tussle between the Chief Secretary and the Principal Secretary to the CM.

Bajwa said the way IAS and PCS officers had gone on a mass leave showed their scant respect for the people of Punjab, who have to travel long distances every day to get their work done from the government offices.

Bajwa said how the officers could get a blanket protection against corruption. “Have they joined the civil services only to protect their corrupt colleagues? Do they have no respect for the law of the land? If they actually feel aggrieved they always have a way of putting up their representation to the state government to which they have a direct access,” said Bajwa.

Bajwa said various judgments of various courts, including that of the Punjab & Haryana High Court, Delhi and Kerala High Courts, have clearly said there was no need for the investigating agency to take prior sanction in investigating civil officials in forgery, fraud, misappropriation of funds and cheating cases under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act.