The Himachal Pradesh bureaucracy seems to be slipping into a malaise as it has come to attract bad headlines over trivial issues for some time. After a spat among its top bureaucrats was reported recently, a fresh battle field has opened involving senior IPS officers of the state over a government bungalow. People ask what will happen to the common people if top police officers fight themselves.
The sprawling Southwood bungalow, which is the official residence of the Shimla SP, is the bone of contention. Ironically, as reported in a section of media, acting DGP Ashok Tewari (IPS:1993:HP) and DIG (Traffic, Tourism, and Railways) Sanjeev Gandhi (IPS:2012:HP) have emerged as its main characters, with Gandhi refusing to vacate the bungalow and Tewari being determined to get it vacated.
The bungalow is located in one of Shimla’s poshest areas, which even houses the Governor besides a number of political bigwigs.
The spate started after IPS officer Gaurav Singh (IPS:2013:HP) took over as Shimla SP in January, but his predecessor and now a DIG, Sanjeev Gandhi, has not yet vacated it, forcing Singh to stay at the Police Headquarters.
Even after six months after he was moved out as the Shimla SP, Gandhi continues to stay there despite directions from Police Headquarters to vacate it, saying he could not shift as the government accommodation allotted to him was occupied by the superintendent of a medical college. Subsequently, another house was allotted to Gandhi, but he rejected it reportedly because of its “dilapidated” condition.
It prompted DGP Tewari to constitute a committee to conduct a special audit of expenditure incurred on repairs and maintenance works at Southwood during the period when Gandhi headed the Shimla district police. The move sparked off an open war between the DGP and the DIG.
Gandhi is also reported to have got involved in a public row last year with then DGP Atul Verma (IPS:1991:HP) over a probe against him, leading to both being sent on leave.
The story of the ruckus involving top IPS officers does not stop here. It was further fueled by ex-DGP S R Mardi (IPS:1986:HP) after he questioned “delays” in the handling of the investigation into fake degrees of Manav Bharti University in March 2020, under Tiwari as Additional DGP (CID).
Similarly, earlier this year, Himachal bureaucracy was enmeshed in allegations and counter-allegations between former Chief Secretary Sanjay Gupta (IAS:1988:HP) and his two former colleagues.
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