Ingratidue is a political sin: Jaitley

Politicians across the board should remember that "ingratitude is a political sin" and instructions taken by any officer needs to be protected rather than being made an instrument during "political slugfest", Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said here today.
The Minister was replying to a question by former Intelligence Bureau officer Rajender Kumar who was at the centre of a controversy in the alleged fake encounter killing of Ishrat Jehan, alleged terror operative, and her friends in Gujarat in 2004.
After the speech of Jaitley at the Endowment Lecture of Intelligence Bureau, Kumar asked Jaitley whether the government should refrain from targeting officers who take bonafide decision while performing their duty.

He said the principle applies across the board for all politicians irrespective whether they are in power or in opposition that "some institutions and their functioning has to be protected".
"And if I put it in one sentence, ingratitude is a political sin," he said.
The Union Minister also cautioned that officers performing their duties should not become an instrument of political slugfest.
"And we have seen this across the board, in those who are busy in fighting insurgency, those who are fighting anti-national elements and, therefore, in the political slugfest, we don't make them an instrument. I hope the people concerned have learnt a lesson," he said.

Kumar was discharged of all the charges after the government refused to give sanction of prosecution on grounds that the officer, who was posted as Joint Director in Intelligence Bureau, had acted on the available intelligence with the office.