Punjab: PCS officers go on mass leave against 'illegal' arrest of colleague

The Punjab Civil Service officers went on a mass casual leave for five days starting Monday in protest against the "illegal" arrest of a colleague in Ludhiana by the state vigilance bureau.

A decision in this regard had been taken by the Punjab Civil Services (PCS) Officers' Association on Sunday.

In another related development, an IAS officers association met Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday in connection with the Vigilance Bureau registering a case against their colleague, and said due procedure was not followed by the bureau, sources said.

Mann asked the chief secretary to find out whether prior sanction had been taken from the competent authority.

Meanwhile, the Punjab Civil Services (PCS) Officers' Association president, Rajat Oberoi, said as many as 235 PCS officers across the state have gone on mass casual leave. He further said that expressing solidarity with the PCS Officers' Association's protest, the revenue officers in the state have also proceeded on mass casual leave during this week.

PCS officer Narinder Singh Dhaliwal, who was posted as regional transport authority in Ludhiana, was arrested on Friday by the vigilance bureau for allegedly taking bribes from transporters for sparing them challans for offending vehicles, the bureau had said.

The PCS Officers' Association held a meeting of its general body to discuss Dhaliwal's arrest. Eighty officers attended the meeting, according to the resolution of the association on Sunday.

"The PCS officer has been arrested illegally, wrongfully and arbitrarily and without due procedure," it said.

It was resolved in the meeting that all the PCS officers in the state shall proceed on a mass casual leave for the coming week starting from January 9, it said.

The association demanded that the government constitute a high-powered committee to investigate the "illegal" arrest of Dhaliwal and sought its report by January 13.

The committee should include senior IAS officers of principal secretary rank as well as a PCS officer and representatives of the transport department, as per the resolution.

The resolution said further course of action will depend on a review of the situation on January 14.

The vigilance bureau on Friday had said that during the investigations of a complaint lodged through the chief minister's anti-corruption helpline on November 18, it was found that Dhaliwal was indulging in collecting bribes through some private persons from different transporters on a monthly basis in Ludhiana for not issuing challans against their vehicles.

The IAS officers association, meanwhile, told met Mann due procedure was not followed in booking their colleague.

A few days back, the Punjab Vigilance Bureau had registered a case against former minister Sunder Sham Arora, an IAS officer and 10 other government officials for allegedly transferring an industrial plot to a realtor firm and allowing it to establish a township by cutting plots in violation of norms.

The Vigilance Bureau has registered a case under various provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and relevant provisions of the IPC at VB police station, Mohali, against various persons, including IAS Neelima and the former minister, besides three directors of the realtor firm, VB had said.

Sources said the Punjab IAS officers Association brought to Mann's notice that due procedure was not followed before registering the case and sanction was not taken.

Sources said that Mann asked the chief secretary to check the matter and report back.

The Section 17 A of the Prevention of Corruption Act stipulates mandatory requirement for a police to seek prior approval for conducting an inquiry or investigation into any offence alleged to have been committed by a public servant.