NEW DELHI: Senior IPS officer Susanta Kumar Nath has filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court in the Odisha Director General of Police (DGP) appointment case, alleging that the State government has discriminated against him and arbitrarily withdrawn his Integrity Certificate without any allegation or evidence of wrongdoing against him.
Nath, 59, a senior 1993-batch Indian Police Service officer, made the submission in an affidavit filed in the apex court on Monday. The court is scheduled to hear the case on Tuesday.
"The only thing that has been treated as being against the Applicant (Nath) is that the CBI has mentioned in its letter if August 4 that he may be examined at a later date if required, after permission under Section 17A is granted against M/s ITI officials and after they are examined. This open-ended response clearly indicates that the Applicant may or may not be examined and, even if examined, it could be only as a witness," he said.
Nath further submitted that the CBI's statement could not be used to deny him an opportunity to be impartially considered in the selection process by the UPSC.
The senior IPS officer said he was filing the affidavit to bring additional facts and documents on record that are relevant to the proper adjudication of the issues pending before the court.
The senior counsel for the applicant has already tendered notes and compilations of relevant documents before the top court.
Nath also said he had learnt that two officers named in the proposal sent by the State government to the UPSC, RP Koche, IPS, and Sanjeeb Panda, IPS, had earlier been examined by the CBI in connection with the Seashore Chit Fund Case in Odisha, according to material available in the public domain and electronic and print media.
However, he said the fact that the two officers were questioned by the CBI in the investigation had neither been placed by the State of Odisha before the court or the UPSC, nor had their Integrity Certificates been withheld by the State government.
"Indeed, it seems clear that no letter akin to the letter of August 03, inquiring about the status of the present Applicant has been sent with regard to the other two officers," the affidavit added.
