IAS Association, two others suspect assault on Delhi chief secretary Anshu Prakash as “pre-planned”; AAP denies allegation

THREE bureaucrats’ associations including the Delhi IAS Association have suspected that the physical assault on chief secretary of Delhi, Anshu Prakash, was pre-planned as the meeting was convened at midnight and the chief secretary was called alone whereas there was a large number of MLAs of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party for the meeting at the chief minister’s camp office. In a resolution of three associations — IAS Association, DANICS Association, DASS Association — said on Tuesday that the meeting was called to pressurise the chief secretary to release…

publicity materials regarding the achievements of the AAP government in violation of the Supreme Court guidelines, and hence the meeting was “devoid of any emergency and public interests”.

AAP, however, has denied any incident of assault and said that Prakash only used racially motivated slurs against its MLAs. The party even filed police complaints against the IAS officer. The party said, the meeting was convened to discuss non-disbursal of rations at fair price shops, and the allegation of assault was “bizarre”. 

Meanwhile, on Tuesday night, AAP legislator Prakash Jarwal was detained by Delhi Police on the charge of assaulting the Delhi’s top bureaucrat. Prakash in his complaint alleged that two AAP MLAs including Prakash Jarwal manhandled him during the midnight meeting, in the presence of the chief minister and deputy chief minister.

While condemning the assault, the IAS Association has termed the incident as “a criminal, cowardly and deplorable act and an assault on the Constitution”, with the resolution of the three civil servants' associations further saying that the incident “amounts to functional crisis and breakdown of governance”. The bureaucrats, however, decided to continue work in the public interests. 

Meanwhile, the IPS Association on Wednesday took to Twitter to say: “We stand with Mr Anshu Prakash at this moment. Officers expect dignity and self-respect to be protected”. 

Prakash, 56, is a 1986 batch AGMUT cadre IAS. He had earlier served as commissioner and secretary (health) in Arunachal Pradesh and in Andaman and Nicobar Island, and also worked in the union ministry of health and family welfare. He is an MBA from the University of Delhi. He was appointed as Delhi's top bureaucrat in December last year, after prematurely repatriating him from the union rural development ministry where he was serving as an additional secretary.