Badals and their babus

There are times when taking sides in political battles backfire on babus. Two senior Indian Police Service officers in Punjab now face trial for perjury and misconduct in the case of disproportionate assets against chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, his wife, and son Sukhbir Badal. Apparently, the men who investigated the case — SP Vigilance Surinder Pal Singh and DIG B.K. Uppal — did not support the prosecution case. The court noted that the two had fabricated evidence and harassed witnesses which led to the Badals getting acquitted.

But this is not an isolated example. The heat is clearly on tainted babus in Punjab. Yet another senior Indian Administrative Service officer, transport director Mandeep Singh, now faces prosecution by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for alleged manipulation in the recruitment of panchayat secretaries in the state. The scam also involves state Speaker Nirmal Singh Kahlon and 13 other babus. Not surprisingly, the Badal government denied the CBI’s request and the agency had to approach the Union home ministry for permission to proceed against Mr Singh and others involved in the scam. But though the CBI has got the go-ahead, it is unlikely to put an end to politicking in the corridors of power.

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Padma blues
Right to Information pressure may have forced the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to disclose the assets of Central ministers, but babus in the PMO continue to stall disclosure of correspondence related to the controversial nominations for the Padma Awards in 2004, despite the Central Information Commission’s (CIC) directive last April to release the documents. A miffed Chief Information Commissioner A.N. Tewari has now written to Sanjukta Ray, deputy secretary in PMO, on the matter.
Babu-watchers however are not surprised at PMO babus dragging their feet, even when the issue does not concern the Manmohan Singh government directly. After all, it’s no secret that the “privileged” list of Padma nominees is tweaked often, with the PMO adding or dropping names at its discretion, leading to controversies. The current band of babus in PMO obviously recognise this and is therefore reluctant to part with this privilege by releasing the documents to the public. How long will PMO babus fend off the CIC is what everyone’s wondering now. It may well be Mr Tewari’s first major challenge after taking over the top slot at CIC.