Harsh Vardhan upholds power to remove Chaturvedi from AIIMS

Health ministry statement has fresh contradictions

The Union health ministry has reiterated its position and power to remove Sanjiv Chaturvedi from the post of chief vigilance officer (CVO), All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), calling it "re-profiling". Health Minister Harsh Vardhan was quoted as saying it was the ministry's immutable right to assign roles to officers.

The ministry was reacting to fresh revelations in the media on Wednesday. Business Standard and other media outlets had reported how Bharatiya Janata Party general secretary and Member of Parliament J P Nadda had demanded Chaturvedi's removal, premature return to home cadre, the appointment of a person of his choice as CVO and suspension of all investigation into cases of corruption at AIIMS.

It was reported Nadda's repeated implorations led Harsh Vardhan to work towards Chaturvedi's removal.

"The allegations against him made by Nadda or anybody else had nothing to do with his (Chaturvedi's) re-profiling," the minister was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the ministry.

Harsh Vardhan didn't deny Nadda had written to him, making various demands. Also, the statement didn't refute a Business Standard report on how the ministry had concealed facts on its records to remove Chaturvedi from his post.

In the statement, Harsh Vardhan said, "I hope I am absolutely clear that government officers cannot claim certain positions as a matter of right and rush to the media with false allegations, when redeployed, even before their terms expire."

He added the media had ignored the fact that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, too, had considered doing away with "duplication of CVO functions at the ministry and AIIMS…The former secretary in the ministry had stated on record Chaturvedi was absorbed for the Department of AYUSH (ayurveda, yoga & naturopathy, unani, siddha and homoeopathy) in the ministry, as there was need for an Indian Forest officer there".

This is contrary to the ministry's records. Though such a proposal was mooted by the ministry during the UPA regime, when the cabinet secretary, as head of the central services board, had sought an explanation for Chaturvedi's removal in less than two months of the posting, the ministry withdrew the proposal. This was acknowledged before a parliamentary standing committee on January 7, 2013, when the panel had issued a privilege notice against the ministry. The then health secretary had written to the committee, admitting though such a proposal had been thought of, it "has since been dropped. He continues to work as deputy secretary and CVO in AIIMS".

In its statement on Wednesday, the ministry contradicted an earlier tweet by minister Harsh Vardhan that Chaturvedi's candidature had been rejected by the CVC (Central Vigilance Commission) twice. The ministry's release says the CVC had only sought the names of candidates for clearance during the UPA government's term. Though the ministry had objected to the move, it had submitted the names (including Chaturvedi's). Following this, the CVC had asked for vigilance profiles of the individuals, which the ministry didn't send.

Wednesday's statement did not disclose the health secretary had, in May this year, concluded Chaturvedi's appointment as CVO was legally sound and the matter was closed. It was also silent on how Chaturvedi's appointment had been approved by AIIMS statutory bodies.