The jailed IAS officer Sudhir Kumar on Friday was suspended with a notification issued by the General Administration Department. Kumar was arrested on last Sunday by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) in connection with the paper leak scam in Bihar Staff Selection Commission (BSSC) of which he was the chairman.
His suspension was on the cards since as per the rules any Government servant should be suspended from the service within 24 hours of the arrest. In Kumar’s case the Government took five days to act even as the Bihar chapter of IAS Officers’ Association launched a campaign against its member and 1987 batch IAS officer and demanded his release. However, the SIT is all set to arrest yet another IAS officer in the same scandal who is suspected to have tried to help Kumar escape and opened his computer.
Practically cold shouldered by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the Association members who met the Governor and Assembly Speaker approached the central leadership of their body. The national body of the IAS officers has urged the Centre as well as Bihar Governments to ensure that “Innocent” civil servants were not victimized and demoralized by the “arbitrary and malafide” action of the police. The association also demanded that the inquiry should be conducted by an independent agency like CBI.
“The Bihar police need to follow the rule of law. There should be a thorough probe into the cases involving IAS officers by an independent agency,” said central IAS association secretary Sanjay Bhoosreddy in Delhi.