India News | MP Govt's Move to Have CM's Nod for Graft Investigation Against Senior Officials Will Hamper Probe: Cong
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The Congress on Sunday criticised the Madhya Pradesh government's order making it mandatory for investigation agencies to acquire prior permission of the state chief minister to probe corruption charges against officials of all-India services.
Bhopal, May 8 (PTI) The Congress on Sunday criticised the Madhya Pradesh government's order making it mandatory for investigation agencies to acquire prior permission of the state chief minister to probe corruption charges against officials of all-India services.
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The Opposition party also said that such a move will not only paralyse the investigative agencies but will also promote corruption whereas the ruling BJP said such a measure would bring transparency in such cases.
The state government's General Administration Department on Thursday issued a circular about the process to be followed under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 in compliance with the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions' directives.
As per this order, prior permission of the state chief minister is necessary for launching the investigation against officials of all-India services (IAS, IPS, IFS etc) under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
“Those who gave the slogan of 'Na Khaunga Aur Na Khane Dunga' (would not take bribes, nor let anyone do so) have ensured the protection of corruption and those involved in it. Now, under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, permission from the Chief Minister to the Administrative Department has been made mandatory for investigation against corrupt officers and employees,” state Congress chief Kamal Nath said in a tweet.
Nath said the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government's move will paralyze the anti-corruption agencies.
"Corruption will become unbridled and corrupts will be protected,” he alleged.
On the other hand, MP BJP secretary Rajneesh Agrawal told PTI that the government order will ensure transparency.
“The BJP-led governments at the Centre and in MP have enacted several laws to control corruption at every level. On the other hand, the Congress means corruption which was proved before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections,” he alleged.
He also said that the Congress government in MP, which lasted for 15 months after the 2018 elections, had set a new record of corruption.
All the governments in the country have to follow the Centre's order about the all-India services officials, he added.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)