Stepping up its attack on the Central Government over the removal of AIIMS Chief Vigilance Officer Sanjeev Chaturvedi, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday called for the immediate sacking or resignation of Dr Harsh Vardhan. AAP’s national convener Arvind Kejriwal alleged that Chaturvedi was removed because he brought corruption cases of a senior IAS officer of Himachal Pradesh who worked as a Deputy Director Administration in AIIMS, to light.
“The Centre should take cognizance of the fact. The IAS officer against whom Chaturvedi had initiated the complaint is close to a senior BJP leader. Chaturvedi started taking action against the IAS officer which is why CBI could register cases against him. Because of these cases IAS officer could not become Chief Secretary of the State. The BJP leader had complained about Chaturvedi several times, but his complaints were examined and rejected,” said Kejriwal.
Kejriwal sought the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this matter. He said that the logic given by Harsh Vardhan that Chaturvedi’s appointment required Chief Vigilance Commission’s (CVC) approval was wrong as AIIMS is not included in the list of Government institutions that require CVC’s nod for appointment of a CVO.
“If CVC’s approval was really an issue, the Minister could have approached the CVC and obtained the same, rather than removing an honest officer. All you require is good intention and will,” Kejriwal said. The AAP leader added that there were attempts to remove the Haryana cadre Indian Forest Service Officer as the CVO from Day 1.
“Under influence of some powerful vested interests, there were attempts to remove Chaturvedi within a few months of his posting. The Parliamentary Standing Committee took umbrage and sought to know why it should not be treated as breach of privilege of the Parliament,” he said.