The residents of Dewas, during Mr. Bisen's visit to the town, complained to him about the unfair practices being indulged in by traders. The Minister immediately directed the Collector to launch a campaign against such traders. The Collector passed on the order to his subordinates.

Sanjana's fault was that she took the orders seriously and carried them out honestly.

One of the establishments she raided was a hotel owned by a local BJP leader. Four LPG cylinders, meant for domestic use, were seized from the hotel. Before the officer could leave the premises, Mr. Tukojirao Puar, the local MLA and a Cabinet minister, reached the hotel. After the deputy collector refused to bow down to his threats, the Minister contacted the Chief Minister on phone and within hours, the deputy collector was transferred to a loop line posting in Bhopal .

Wouldn't it have been better for the Chief Minister to politely tell his colleague to exercise restraint and wait for the finding of an enquiry, which could have been ordered.

The Chief Secretary is much more responsible for the humiliation of the officer than the political executive. The Chief Secretary is supposed to be the guardian of the entire workforce of the State Government. There are instances of the chief secretaries of Madhya Pradesh risking their own position to stand by their subordinates. One such case related to late Mr. Ram Singh Khanna, who was the state Sales Tax commissioner. He launched a campaign for the recovery of sales tax. This campaign angered the defaulting traders. They approached a Minister hailing from Indore. The concerned minister persuaded the then Chief Minister (late Mr. PC Sethi) to order the suspension of Mr. Khanna.

The suspension order was issued on a Sunday and was made public at a hurriedly convened Press conference.

At that time, the legendary ICS officer Mr. RCVP Noronha was the Chief Secretary. We journalists were aware of the fact that Mr. Noronha was strictly off-work on Sundays. Still, I contacted his residence. On being told about Mr. Khanna's suspension he reaction was, “How can a head of department be suspended without the knowledge of the Chief Secretary?” I asked him how I should report the development. His reply was, “report that Khanna is not suspended”.

Clearly, Mr. Noronha chose to stand by an honest officer rather than side with the Chief Minister. Later, he managed the reversal of the order of suspension. I am of the view that the present Chief Secretary should have done what his illustrious predecessor had done many decades ago.

In this connection, I also recall an interaction with Jyoti Basu, the then Chief Minister of West Bengal. Years back, I was at Durgapur to attend a journalists' conference, which was inaugurated by Mr. Basu. During lunch he interacted informally with the journalists. Someone asked him about his relationship with the bureaucracy. Mr. Basu related an incident to explain how he dealt with the bureaucracy. He said that during his visit to one of the district headquarters of West Bengal, he was informed by the Collector that a ruling party MLA would have to be arrested on some charges. “I told the Collector,” Mr. Basu said, “where is the need to inform me. If you have reason enough, go ahead and arrest him.” This was how Mr. Basu managed to rule West Bengal for thirty years without a break.

One of the complaints against Sanjana was that she was targeting only “BJP traders”. Shouldn't the “BJP traders” set an example by adhering to the rules while doing their business? After all, the BJP is a “party with a difference”.

There is little doubt that the dramatic and humiliating manner in which Sanjana was transferred will demoralise the officers who uphold the high traditions of administration. The episode is only symbolic of what honest and conscientious officers have in store for them in our system. (IPA)