Expressing concern, 72 retired bureaucrats on Friday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the prosecution of four former officials of the Finance Ministry in the INX Media case.
They asserted that such action will demotivate diligent and honest officers from taking important decisions. The retired bureaucrats also demanded that there should be a reasonable period of time after which files should not be reopened.
The letter has been signed by retired civil servants like former cabinet secretary K M Chandrasekhar, former foreign secretary and national security advisor Shivshankar Menon, former foreign secretary Sujatha Singh and former DGP of Punjab Julio Riberio.
They expressed concern over “selective targeting” of retired and serving officers, apparently for “gaining narrow political advantages”.
“Serving officials will naturally be demotivated if diligent and honest officers are selectively targeted for punishment for no fault of theirs other than that they were implementing the policy decisions of the government of the day,” the letter said.
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Last month, the government issued a sanction to the CBI to prosecute former NITI Aayog CEO Sindhushree Kullar and others in connection with the FIPB clearance granted to INX Media, officials said.
The officers also hit out at the government for making officers bear the brunt of criminal proceedings that “originate from settling of political scores”.
“It is indeed a travesty when governance systems spare no effort in ensuring that political elements charged with or prosecuted for very serious offences are given latitude while officers who have faithfully served the nation for over three decades are arraigned on the flimsiest of technical grounds. In the interests of justice, we earnestly urge that there be an early resolution of this issue,” the letter said.
(With PTI inputs)