Curtailing the tenure of a 1997-batch DANICS officer, the Union Home Ministry on Monday ordered the premature retirement of AV Premnath. However, the Ministry has granted an aggregate amount of his pay and allowances for three months which comes to Rs 4.06 lakh as a full and final compensation for relieving him prematurely from service.
In a note, the Home Ministry has informed the Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar of the Centre’s decision. Premnath is considered close to the AAP government in Delhi and was under suspension for facing criminal case relating to possession of disproportionate assets prior to his premature retirement.
Top sources said that the a three member review committee headed by additional secretary in the Ministy, has reviewed his service records and it was decided to issue his premature retirement.
“I am directed to refer to the subject mentioned above and to say that the Competent Authority has approved the premature retirement of Shri A.V. Prem Nath, an Entry Grade officer of DANICS (1997) in public interest under sub-rule 1 of Rule 56(j) of the Fundamental Rules and Rule 42 of CCS (Pension) Rules 1965 with immediate effect by giving three months pay and allowances in lieu of notice. Two copies of the order of premature retirement are enclosed. One copy of the order may be served on to the concerned officer namely, A.V. Prem Nath DANICS(1997) along with a cheque for a sum approximate to the aggregate amount of his pay and allowances for a period of three months. Action taken in this regard may be intimated to this Ministry at the earliest”, said Kshitish Kumar, Deputy Secretary, Home Ministry said in an order on Monday.
Earlier in June this year, the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) has filed an FIR against former joint commissioner of the Delhi Labour department, A V Premnath, for allegedly “acquiring illegal properties across the country in the name of his family members.”
The FIR was registered on June 16 by the ACB following a complaint that was transferred from the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Economic Offences Wing (EOW), in December 2019 for conducting an enquiry. It has been alleged that the officer has connections/dealing in real estate business. It was found that he even sold properties that were purchased on his wife’s name. He had allegedly set up a school in Uttarakhand’s Almora in 2017 through a foundation in which his wife is the chairperson and one of the members is his mother-in-law. The officer allegedly designated him as vice-president of this foundation. He had bought five properties allegedly bought by Premnath in Tirupathi, Andhra Pradesh.
Premnath had filed a complaint on June 2 with the Delhi Assembly speaker demanding a probe by the Central Bureau Investigation (CBI) into the “fake credentials” of Special Secretary (Vigilance) YVVJ Rajasekhar. In his complaint, Premnath alleged that Rajasekhar entered the second list of selected candidates for the Civil Services Main Examination in 1994 through “fraudulent OBC credentials”. The committee first issued a notice to Rajasekhar on June 5 asking him to appear before it on Friday. However, it did not mention the name of the complainant.
The Special Secretary also accused Premnath of “trying to use the shoulder of Hon’ble Assembly/Committee to obtain a finding which he may likely to plead or use it for his legal purposes in various forums in ongoing disciplinary/criminal cases”
