The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) on Tuesday slapped a contempt notice on Finance Ministry and Department of Personnel for not implementing its order of absorbing the Investigating Officer in 2G scam cases, Rajeshwar Singh, in the Enforcement Directorate.
The CAT as well as Delhi High Court had already ordered the Centre to absorb Singh in ED's permanent service. The orders from different forums came after the officer was shunted out from the ED by the Finance Ministry in November 2013.
Rajeshwar Singh, belonging to Uttar Pradesh Police, was on deputation in the ED for the past seven years and was the Investigating Officer in 2G scam and Aircel-Maxis probes. He was reporting to the Supreme Court, as it was monitoring the probe.
Singh faced several hardships posed by mighty corporate houses when he summoned the controversial lobbyist Nira Radia. Several fraudulent cases were registered against him and his family members across the country in various forums. But in 2012, the SC quashed all fraudulent cases against.
Meanwhile, in 2011, UPSC selected him in the permanent service of ED. However, in an unprecedented move the Finance Ministry rejected UPSC's recommendation regarding Singh even though it approved similar recommendations on absorbing other officers in ED. The Finance Ministry even approached the Supreme Court bench handling 2G cases for shunting Singh from the ED. BJP leader Subramanian Swamy objected this move in SC blaming Finance Minister P Chidambaram “behind this sinister move.”
The Principal bench of CAT here issued orders after Singh, posted as Deputy Director in the ED, sought contempt proceedings against the two government departments which did not follow the court order. The next hearing is on March 25.