Change rules related to suspension, demands IAS officers body

The over 4,700-member IAS Officers' Association has suggested changes in rules including prior sanction of the Centre before any officer of the service is suspended by a state government.
The suggestions came in the wake of recent suspension of Durga Sakthi Nagpal, a 2010 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, who had taken over sand mining mafia active in Gautam Budh Nagar district of the state.
"Revisit all rules regarding All India Services, in particular 'All India Services (Disciplinary and Appeals Rules, 1969, wherein a provision for seeking prior approval of central government should be made before suspending any IAS officer working under control of state governments," the association's Secretary Sanjay R Bhoos Reddy told PTI here.

He recommended provision for serving of a "mandatory show cause notice" to an officer seeking his or her explanation within a specified time period before suspension.
"Only after perusal of that particular IAS officer's reply to the show cause notice, suspension should be decided," he suggested.
The Association, which at present has about 4,737 members (equal to the number of officers of the elite service), has sought immediate revocation of Nagpal's suspension. The members had recently met Minister of State for Personnel V Narayanasamy in this regard.

Nagpal's suspension has evoked sharp reaction from Opposition parties including BJP and BSP, who alleged that she was removed for her action on the sand mafia.

The officer, as sub-divisional magistrate of Gautam Budh Nagar, has cracked down on sand mining mafia active in that area. She was suspended ostensibly for ordering demolition of a wall of an under-construction mosque without following the due process.
The young IAS officer is at present attached to the Board of Revenue in Lucknow.