BJP accuses UP Govt. of cover up on Durga Nagpal suspension issue

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kalraj Mishra on Tuesday criticized the Uttar Pradesh Government for suspending Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Durga Shakti Nagpal, saying that Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and his ruling Samajwadi Party are indulging in a systematic cover-up of wrong doing.

"They (UP Government) has made the wrong decision. Now, to maintain its prestige, they are covering it up with one lie after another," Mishra claimed.

Mishra called for the immediate reinstatement of Nagpal, who has been at the forefront of a government campaign to nail the sand mafia as sub divisional magistrate of the state's Gautam Buddh District.

Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had said on Monday that if an officer makes a mistake, he or she is punished, just like children are punished in school. That is how a government works, he added.

Commenting on Nagpal's suspension, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said rules laid down would be followed in the case.

The Prime Minister's remark came hours after the Uttar Pradesh Government slapped a charge sheet and informed the Centre that it would also be initiating penalty proceedings against Nagpal for flouting established government norms and showing lack of administrative acumen.

A copy of the charge sheet along with a report has been sent to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) at the Centre.

The Samajwadi Party government's 10-page charge sheet accuses Nagpal of violating norms while ordering the demolition of the wall of a mosque built illegally on government land at Gautam Buddh Nagar District.

The charge sheet was issued after Congress President Sonia Gandhi asked Prime Minister Singh through a letter to ensure that the suspended bureaucrat is treated fairly.

Nagpal was suspended last month ostensibly for taking on the sand mafia and for ordering the demolition of a wall of a mosque that was being built on government land in Gautam Buddh Nagar District.