Uttar Pradesh government revokes Durga Shakti Nagpal's suspension

LUCKNOW: A day after she met Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, the Uttar Pradesh government today revoked the suspension of woman IAS officer Durga Sakhti Nagpal.

"The state government has revoked the suspension of IAS officer Nagpal and reinstated her," a one-line official statement issued here said.

With inquiry pending against her, Nagpal along with her husband Abhishek Singh, also an IAS officer, yesterday met Akhilesh and gave clarification over the issue which led to her suspension.

Nagpal was suspended on July 27 ostensibly for taking on the powerful sand mining mafia when she was the SDM of Gautambudh Nagar.

The Chief Minister had said she was suspended for arbitrarily ordering the demolition of a wall of an under-construction mosque in Kadalpur village.

"Her action threatened to destroy communal peace," Akhilesh had said.

The Chief Minister had on August 29 ordered a fresh probe and appointed Principal Secretary (Home) R M Srivastava as the inquiry officer in the case and called for a report within 15 days.

She was later served a charge-sheet running into 10 pages following a report of the Commissioner (Meerut Division).

The charge-sheet said the IAS officer had not adhered to rules while demolishing the wall of a mosque to which she had submitted her reply.

The IAS officer's suspension had triggered a public outcry with opposition parties targeting the UP government over the issue