In a shot in the arm for the entire Bihar bureaucracy, which has been protesting against the victimisation of IAS officers in the State, the Nitish Kumar Government has withdrawn the criminal and civil proceedings against 2013-batch IAS officer Jitendra Gupta. The move follows after the Supreme Court as well as a subsequent departmental inquiry absolved him of all charges of corruption.
While conceding the fact that all proceedings against Gupta were unlawful and unprecedented, the State Government in an order dated April 21, 2017 regularized the period of his incarceration which is almost a year now and ordered restoring his full salary. A copy of the order has been sent to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Government of India.
Gupta had a prolonged legal tussle with the system before he was cleared of all the charges by the SC in February this year.
Not bearing this major embarrassment, the Bihar Government again launched departmental proceedings against the officer which too last week absolved him of all the allegations against him.
The SC upheld the Patna High Court order quashing the FIR against Gupta and was convinced that a false case was “framed” against the official who was gunning against the truck mafia-police nexus in the State. The integrity of Gupta, who also holds a medical degree, was vouched for by the IAS Officers Association of Bihar later supported by Central IAS Association.
The association had even protested against the arrest of their colleague senior IAS Sudhir Kumar in the Bihar Staff Selection Commission examination paper leak case.
While several IAS officers formed a human chain against victimisation of Gupta and Sudhir Kumar, they had also met Governor Ram Nath Kovind and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over the issue. BJP legislators and its NDA allies had attacked the Government in Assembly for the witch-hunt launched by the State Government against the officers.
Gupta was the sub-divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Mohaniya in Bhabua district of Bihar where as per direction of the Government, he had taken stern action against the wrong doers. But to get him out of the way, an “Entry Mafia” lodged a vigilance complaint alleging that the officer had accepted a bribe and consequently, an FIR was lodged against Gupta
who spent about a month in jail last July.
The SC Bench of Justices Adarsh K Goel and UU lalit dismissed Bihar’s plea and stated that the officer was framed for targeting overloaded trucks plying on NH flouting rules.
“We do not see any merit in this special leave petition which is hereby dismissed,” said the SC Bench.