Sting CD case: IAS official's inter-cadre deputation curtailed

DEHRADUN: In a sudden curtailment of inter-cadre deputation, the Centre has ordered the transfer of former Personal Secretary to Uttarakhand Chief Minister, Mohammad Shahid to the place of his immediate previous posting, after a sting video purportedly showing him negotiating a bribery deal went public.

A letter from the Centre curtailing Shahid's inter-cadre deputation to Uttarakhand with immediate effect has been received by the state government, a highly placed state official told PTI.

Confirming the development, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Om Prakash said that the order is being complied with.

Issued by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions of the Government of India, the order dated July 25 is signed by Deputy Secretary to the Goverment of India J Srinivasan, a copy of which is available with PTI.

A Gujarat cadre IAS officer of 1998 batch, Shahid has now been asked to report to the place of his immediate previous posting prior to his inter-cadre deputation.

Shahid had come on deputation to Uttarakhand just a couple of months after Harish Rawat took over as Chief Minister of the state in February 2014. He has also served as Personal Secretary to Rawat when the latter was Union Minister for Water Resources in the then UPA government.

The official had left the state government red-faced when the BJP circulated a sting video CD last Wednesday purportedly showing him negotiationg a bribery deal with a middleman for liquor licences.

He was removed from his post on Saturday after he requested the state's Chief Secretary to absolve him of the responsibilities pending an ongoing inquiry into the authenticity of the sting video.

A probe being conducted by DGP B S Sidhu into the authenticity of the CD is yet to conclude.