Following the submission of Prakash Singh Committee report, which probed the acts of omission and commission by officials during the Jat agitation, Haryana Government on Tuesday shunted out its Additional Chief Secretary (Home) PK Das.
The senior IAS officer has been relieved of the charge and replaced by another senior IAS officer Ram Niwas, said an official spokesman of the State Government.
Niwas, who was ACS (Irrigation), has been posted as Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Jails, Criminal Investigation and Administration of Justice Departments.
As many as 90 officers including IAS and IPS officers were indicted for “deliberate negligence” during the Jat quota agitation by Prakash Singh Committee and adverse comments were made against them in its report submitted to Chief Minister Manohar lal Khattar on May 13.
The probe panel has reportedly raised questions on the conduct of Additional Chief Secretary (Home) PK Das and former Director-General of Police YP Singhal during Jat stir. Haryana Government had last month removed state DGP YP Singhal and appointed IPS officer KP Singh as the new police chief.
A meeting of Cabinet Ministers was held under Chief Minister Manohar lal on Tuesday to discuss the Prakash Singh panel report.
Sources said that the Government is likely to constitute a sub-committee to look into the probe panel report which has found “deliberate negligence and malafide” on the part of 90 police and administrative officers who failed to control law and order situation in eight districts during February’s Jat stir violence in Haryana.
The Cabinet deliberated upon the report and it was discussed to constitute a sub-committee of members including ministers and senior officers to look into the report and chalk an action plan on the inquiry report, said sources.
While talking to the mediapersons after the meeting, Cabinet Minister Ram Bilas Sharma said that the inquiry report was discussed in the meeting and appropriate action would be taken against the officers indicted by the panel.
The Committee was appointed on February 25 to inquire into the alleged acts of omission and commission on part of officials of both police and civil administration during the agitation from February 7 to 22.
The inquiry panel had inquired into the role of officers starting from the rank of Sub-Inspector to SP in police and Naib Tehsildar or duty Magistrate to the rank of Deputy Commissioner in civil administration in the affected districts of Rohtak, Jhajjar, Jind, Hisar, Kaithal, Bhiwani, Sonepat and Panipat.
Pointing out major “negligence” on part of certain officials to control the
aggravated situation during the Jat agitation in February, the report has indicted the then Rohtak range IG, Rohtak Deputy Commissioner, Jhajjar Deputy Commissioner, Jhajjar SDM, Jhajjar SP, Hisar DC, Sonepat Deputy Commissioner and Sonipat SDM among others, said sources.
Most of the officials among these have already been transferred by the Manohar lal Khattar Government in the past two months.
The report also pointed out how some officials provided a free hand to rioters during the agitation that led to the incidents of arson and looting in the state. The inquiry panel did not recommend any specific action against any of the senior
officers leaving it to the State Government to take appropriate action as per law.
A total of 30 persons had died and 324 persons, including 67 personnel of security forces, were injured during the Jat reservation agitation.
The panel report, which is in two volumes, runs into about 450 pages out of which the main report is in about 200 pages and there are another 200 pages of annexures. The second volume, which has only about 37 pages, deals with the role of intelligence in the context of the riots.
The Committee heard 2,217 persons from different walks of life while 143 video footages were received and 395 statements were recorded on the spot.
Haryana Government had faced strong criticism from various quarters following the eruption of violence and arson during Jat quota stir.