Indian Administrative Service officers working under the central government cannot be suspended without the nod of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a move aimed at allowing bureaucrats to take decisions without any fear of political backlash.
Whistle-blower officer Ashok Khemka has been shunted again, in breach of rules by BJP government in Haryana. All actions of the previous Congress govt against him still stand even as the Narendra Modi government has chosen to keep away.
Haryana government has directed sportspersons employed with it to deposit one-third of their earnings from commercial and professional commitments to the state sports council
The Congress has alleged a Bharatiya Janata Party hand in the land deal controversy in Haryana involving Robert Vadra, alleging that IAS officer Ashok Khemka, who "exposed" the land deal with DLF, is playing into the opposition's hands.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday asked the Election Commission to take serious note of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda clearing the land deal between Robert Vadra and DLF, alleging that it was done hastily as the Congress faced "certain defeat" in the October 15 Haryana assembly polls.
Wouldn't have used 182 pages for report if there were no irregularities, said Justice Dhingra.
"If you have to take action, the morality should start from the top, right at the top. It is very easy to take action with the people who are downtrodden, but it takes courage and guts to call a bluff a bluff when it happens at the top," he told Karan Thapar in CNN-IBN's Devil's Advocate programme.
With the political class coming under severe attack for undue interference in the functioning of the bureaucracy, the United Progressive Alliance government has decided to amend the Model Code of Conduct for ministers to include a reference to the need for upholding the impartiality of the civil service.
Trouble is brewing for the Congress in Haryana with its Gurgaon Lok Sabha Member of Parliament Rao Inderjit Singh making a statement that Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra must be punished if he is found guilty of 'sham land deals' in Haryana. Reenu Mittal reports
Officers of the three premier services -- Indian Administrative Services, Indian Police Service and Indian Foreign Service -- will now spend a minimum of two years at each posting and any exception in the form of transfers or new appointments will only be done upon the recommendation of a civil services board, according to new rules aimed at checking political interference.
Tightening the noose around whistleblower Indian Administrative Service officer Ashok Khemka, the Haryana government has chargesheeted him in connection with cancellation of the mutation of a land deal between Robert Vadra and real estate major DLF in Gurgaon in October last year and accusing him of causing damage to the reputation of Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law.
In a path-breaking verdict, the Supreme Court on Thursday said bureaucrats should not act on verbal orders given by political bosses as it sought an end to frequent transfers and suggested a fixed tenure to insulate them from political interference.
Justice S N Dhingra Commission, which was set up to probe into grant of land licences to some companies including that of Robert Vadra's in Gurgaon during the Congress rule in Haryana, on Thursday sought six weeks more time to submit its report hours before the deadline was to end.
Robert Vadra's land deals in a village in Haryana have returned to haunt the Congress party, with whistleblower IAS officer Ashok Khemka alleging that Vadra "falsified documents" for 3.53 acres of land in Gurgaon and "pocketed" a large premium on a commercial colony license.
Ahead of the assembly elections next year, the BJP has been wallowing in a welter of ideas that has resurrected the debate on populism versus pragmatism, as it has to pander to two important but incompatible constituencies, of the freebie consuming masses and Bengaluru's heavy hitters craving for even roads, pristine lakes and unbroken power supply, reports Radhika Ramaseshan.
Claiming the Congress leadership had ignored issues raised by him, Lok Sabha MP from Gurgoan Rao Inderjit Singh has trained his guns on Robert Vadra and Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Anita Katyal reports.
The Bharatiya Janata Party chose not to raise any protests when their demand to raise Robert Vadra's suspect land deals was not considered by Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari. Anita Katyal reports.
In an embarrassment to Congress, a party MP from Gurgaon on Monday demanded an inquiry into change of land use from agriculture to commercial or residential in the Haryana city and said anybody who has made money illegally, even if it is Robert Vadra, should he held accountable.
The suspension of Durga Shakti Nagpal, a young IAS officer, is likely to be withdrawn by the Uttar Pradesh government as the case has become extremely high-profile.
Are they missing or have they been intentionally removed? A huge uproar has broken out after whistleblower IAS officer Ashok Khemka has revealed that two important pages of a file pertaining to DLF-Robert Vadra land deal, containing notings, are missing.
Tragic as it is, the submarine accident is more tactical in nature and it is the deeper strategic malaise across the board -- political, economic, security, judiciary, bureaucracy and even the media -- that has led to this dark mood of gloom and despondency, says Commodore (retd) C Uday Bhaskar.
Recent investigations into the telecom spectrum and coal scams have made bureaucrats very wary of taking decisions.
Why are so many people so reluctant to give up on Arvind Kejriwal? The simple answer is 'Narendra Modi', or rather the fear of Narendra Modi,' says T V R Shenoy.