Home ministry asks babus not to keep sensitive files pending for more than 7 working days

NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Home Affairs has asked officers handling sensitive or high-profile cases not to keep them pending for more than seven working days unless a higher limit has been prescribed.

The note by home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi — called ‘Systematic improvement following serious lapses and lack of supervision’ in high-profile cases — directing “all joint secretaries to review the pendency every fortnight to ensure there is no backlog, comes after controversies surrounding handling of files related to activist Teesta Setalvad’s NGO and televangelist Zakir Naik’s NGO.

Joint secretaries have been tasked to diagnose five cases every week and take “corrective measures.” They have been also asked to hold a meeting where section officers and above would be present and be made duly aware of the case for larger accountability, if there is a lapse.

Not long ago, CBI had arrested MHA official Anand Joshi on charges of corruption for ‘walking away’ with the file related to Setalvad’s NGO that was under scanner for alleged FCRA violations. The MHA had also recently suspended four senior officials, including a joint secretary, for ‘automatically renewing’ Naik’s Islamic Research Foundation’s FCRA licence. The home ministry has also decided to regularly grade high-profile or important cases at different stages of processing. The note did not refer to the Teesta or Naik cases but said there was lack of coordination among various wings/sections of the ministry.