With the ongoing tussle between the centre and former Chief Secretary of West Bengal Alapan Bandyopadhyay, the Home Ministry on Monday issued a show-cause notice to the retired IAS officer under Section 51 of the Disaster Management Act, which signifies “whoever without reasonable cause refused to comply with any direction given by or on behalf of the Central government or the state government or the National Executive Committee or the State Executive committee, shall on conviction be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year and a fine or with both”.
This comes after Bandyopadhyay did not attend the review meeting headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kalaikunda last week to review the situation arising out of Cyclone Yaas in West Bengal. The Home Ministry has asked the retired officer to give an explanation by Thursday, 3 June. It is being said that if a satisfactory explanation is not received till Thursday, further actions might be taken.
Earlier on May 28, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) issued an order directing Alapan Bandyopadhyay to report to its office in Delhi by 10 a.m. on May 31. In a reply to this, WB Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee refused the allegation and said that she handed over a detailed report in front of the Prime Minister after asking for his permission thrice.
1987 batch IAS Alapan Bandyopadhyay retired from the post of Chief Secretary of West Bengal on Monday afternoon after refusing to take an extension of services granted by the Centre. Immediately after the retirement, he joined in as the Principal Adviser to the Mamata government for a period of three years.
