The wheels of bureaucracy move slowly but steadily and this became evident when a committee consisting of senior officials of Union home ministry and Department of Personnel and Training finalised their report and sent it to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), recommending disciplinary action against ex-CBI director Alok Verma.
The 2018 controversy came back to haunt Verma as the committee, after examining the issue for nearly two years, found that he had violated service rules which attracted disciplinary action. In 2018, Verma entered into a bitter feud with his second-in-command Rakesh Asthana in CBI. There were allegations and counter-allegations between him and Asthana, then special director, which led to inquiries and investigations against both the officers. But Asthana was given a clean chit by the CBI following a probe by the central agency into the bribery allegations levelled against him. Asthana has recently been appointed commissioner of Delhi Police.
However, Verma continued to face charges of misuse of official position and violation of service rules. After Verma was removed from the post of CBI director in January 2019 by the high-powered selection panel that included Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he was given the charge of Director General of Fire Services, Civil Defence and Home Guards. But Verma, a 1979 batch IPS officer, refused to take charge and wrote to the MHA to consider him superannuated from January 11, 2019. Government sources said the procedure in service rules has to be followed failing which the government can take disciplinary action which may entail temporary or permanent loss of retirement and pension benefits depending on the gravity of the violations.
The committee has taken time to examine the issue and finalised its report. Sources said the members of the committee agreed that Verma had misused official position and violated service rules, and has recommended necessary action. This report has now been submitted to the UPSC for further action, as it is the nodal body for recruiting IPS officers, and decides on the penalty on them for violation of service rules during their tenures. If the UPSC accepts the recommendations, Verma's pension and post-retirement benefits can be affected.
Defending himself after his ouster from CBI, Verma had said that he had been transferred on the basis of false and unsubstantiated allegations. He had said that ''natural justice'' was scuttled and he was not given an opportunity to present his case. Verma is expected to further defend himself but the ball is in the court of the UPSC for now.
