The privileges committee of the Lok Sabha has sought reply from three senior Maharashtra bureaucrats for apparently neither responding to the letters of a parliamentarian nor taking any decision on his application.
The deputy secretary of the parliament privilege committee, Bala Guru G, issued factual notices to senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers Dr Nitin Kareer the then additional chief secretary (ACS) Urban Development Department now ACS to Chief Minister, ACS Ashish Kumar Singh and state chief secretary Manukumar Srivastava.
The Lok Sabha secretariat via the ministry of personnel, public grievances and pension has sought a 'factual note' from the Maharashtra government to be furnished in 15 days for placing before the Lok Sabha Speaker.
BJP MP from North Mumbai, Gopal Shetty, had sought permission from the aforementioned officials to install a life-size statue of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at the Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee National Center of Excellence Complex.
“Despite getting necessary permission and NOC from 14 departments, these three officers didn’t give any reply, violating the privileges of the public representatives,” said a senior official from the Maharashtra chief minister office.
MP Gopal Shetty complained to the speaker of Lok Sabha's privileges and ethics committee, Sunil Kumar Singh. Taking cognizance of the complaint, notices were subsequently issued to the three senior bureaucrats.
Commenting over the issue, Shetty alleged, “At the behest of the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi government, the officials deliberately crossed all limits by committing the heinous sin of harassing elected public representatives. Now, they will have to bear the consequences.”
