In the ongoing political tug of war between Centre and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Alapan Bandyopadhyay, who turned CM advisor after retiring from chief secretary, got a show-cause notice from the Centre. According to reports, the Centre has sent a notice to Alapan for famously skipping a meeting that was held by PM Modi over the assessment of Cyclone Yaas. The Centre sent a notice under the Disaster Management Act and is now seeking an explanation from Alapan for skipping the meeting.
Background
The Centre and the West Bengal government has been at loggerheads with each other over the past few weeks. The issue reached a flashpoint when the Centre called Chief Secretary of West Bengal Alapan Bandyopadhyay back to Delhi for his services after he and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee missed meeting with Prime Minister on May 28. On May 31, Mamata Banerjee announced that Bandyopadhyay his retired from his service, and is now appointed as CM’s advisor. It should be noted that Bandyopadhyay had been given a 3-month extension by the Centre, which he declined to join as Banerjee’s advisor.
Also Read: West Bengal Chief Secretary Recalled by Centre after Modi-Mamata meeting conflict
Details
In the game of political three-dimension chess, the Mamata Banerjee government tried to checkmate Centre as ignored the Centre’s summon to Delhi and appointed the now former chief secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay as the Chief Minister’s advisor.
Bandyopadhyay was asked by the Centre to report to Delhi, but the IAS officer spent his last day as the Chief Secretary of West Bengal assessing the COVID-19 situation in the state along with the post-cyclone relief work.
Centre sends multiple letters to Chief Secretary
It should be noted that the Centre sent multiple letters to Alapan asking him to report to Delhi on Tuesday latest. Meanwhile, before Alapan received the second letter by the Centre, CM Banerjee wrote to PM Modi saying her cabinet will not release Alapan. Banerjee also held a news conference in which she narrated the timeline of the events that led to Monday’s conflict.
Banerjee in the conference said how the Centre did not mention in its letter the reason for Bandyopadhyay’s recalling and how she wrote a letter to PM Modi for reconsideration and withdrawal of the order.
“I did not allow Bandyopadhyay to leave Secretariat”: CM Banerjee
Banerjee further added that Bandyopadhyay was issued another letter by the Centre in which he was again asked to report to Delhi North Block.
“Alapan Bandyopadhyay has retired, as I did not allow him to leave our Secretariat. The Centre has asked him to join North Block on Tuesday but it cannot force an officer to join it without the permission of the state government. Besides he had already retired before the arrival of the second letter. I allowed him to retire,”
-CM Banerjee said.
She also said how she was “shocked” by the “unilateral order” sent to her government by the Indian government.
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Centre issues show-cause notice to Bandyopadhyay
Meanwhile, the Centre has now served Bandyopadhyay a show-cause notice for skipping the meeting that was chaired by the Prime Minister. The show cause issued on May 31, sought an explanation for his absence from the meeting called by Prime Minister Modi on the assessment of Cyclone Yaas and the relief work pertaining to that.
“In view of the absence, the Chief Secretary (Mr. Bandyopadhyay) was called by an official as to whether they wanted to participate in the review meeting or not. Thereafter, Chief Secretary arrived along with Chief Minister of West Bengal inside the meeting room and left thereafter immediately,”
-the Centre said. Bandyopadhyay has to respond in the next 3 days.
What happens next?
It should be noted that as per the Discipline and Appeal Rules, 1969, the West Bengal government will be the appropriate authority which will issue a chargesheet as it had never relieved Bandyopadhyay from his service. Further, the Rule 6 (1) of IAS Cadre Rules state that in the case of any disagreement between the Centre and the state government, the Centre’s word on an officer’s deputation prevails.
Although, the officer in question may raise the matter to the state high court where the matter will be followed under the due protocol.
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