After a storm of controversy hit the Union home ministry with a group of joint secretaries protesting against the suspension of G.K. Dwivedi, joint secretary in-charge of foreigners division, the MHA is re-thinking its decision. The ministry is now examining whether the 'severe' punishment meted out to Dwivedi, an IAS officer, was justified or not.
Dwivedi was suspended after it emerged that the FCRA registration of controversial preacher Zakir Naik’s NGO had been renewed despite an ongoing probe against him.
The secretary (border management), who is the inquiry officer in the MHA, has been advised to revoke the suspension and send the officer on leave pending inquiry. While a final decision on the matter will be taken between the secretary in department of personnel and the home secretary, the bureaucrats are hoping that Dwivedi will get a sympathetic hearing given his clean background.
The move has come after a group of joint secretaries met Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi on Saturday to share their concerns. They wanted to know whether IAS officers in-charge of various divisions should be penalised for bona fide mistakes, especially in cases where there is a delegation of responsibility to their juniors.
Dwivedi was suspended by the Home Ministry last week after it was found that the FCRA wing of the MHA under him had granted the licence to the Islamic Research Foundation.
The Maharashtra government has already sent a report to the MHA against Zakir Naik last month. The report alleges that his speeches and activities were creating disharmony in the society. Some of the recently arrested IS suspects had allegedly named Naik saying they had been motivated by his speeches to carry out acts of terror.
