In Modi-Didi tug of war over Bengal officer, the federalism rope snaps

The dramatic episode concerning West Bengal’s now-retired Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay is a new low in relations between the Centre and the state government. The Centre’s sudden transfer order asking the senior bureaucrat to report for duty in the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) in Delhi set off a series of tit-for-tat actions by the Modi and Mamata governments.

It all started with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee skipping a review meeting held by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Kalaikunda in West Medinipur district on May 28. Citing prior engagements, the Chief Minister, accompanied by then Chief Secretary Bandyopadhyay, walked in and out of the meeting after a very brief interaction with the Prime Minister and handing him a report on the damage caused by Cyclone Yaas.

Later, she made it clear that the presence of Suvendu Adhikari, who defeated her in the Assembly elections in Nandigram and is now Leader of the Opposition, in the meeting was “unacceptable” to her.

Read | Mamata indicated boycotting PM’s meeting if Suvendu was present: Bengal Governor

The Centre-state face off intensified when hours later, the Centre shot off a letter to the Bengal government asking it to relieve Bandyopadhyay so that he could join the Union government by 10 am on May 31. This, after the Modi government had just granted Bandyopadhyay a three-month extension in the post of Bengal Chief Secretary following a request from the state government. The Centre persisted with its order despite Mamata’s refusal to release him for central duty.

On May 31, a furious Mamata had shot off a five-page letter to the Prime Minister dubbing the transfer order “unilateral...legally untenable, historically unprecedented and wholly unconstitutional.”

“The Government of West Bengal cannot release and is not releasing its Chief Secretary at this critical hour, on the basis of our understanding that the earlier order of extension, issued after lawful consultation in accordance with applicable laws, remains operational and valid,” stated Mamata.

Within hours of her letter to the PM stating that her government would not release Bandyopadhyay, a 1987-batch Bengal cadre officer, the Centre issued a show cause notice to him as he showed no intent to join duty in Delhi as per its order.

The Chief Minister and the Centre locked horns in a legal debate on whether an IAS officer working under a state government can be recalled by the Centre as per the Indian Administrative Service (Cadre) Rules, 1954, without prior consultation with the concerned state government.

The Union Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension in another letter to the former chief secretary argued that as per Section 6(1) of the Indian Administrative Service (Cadre) Rules 1954, in case of a disagreement between the Centre and a state government with regard to the deputation of a cadre officer under the Centre or the state, the Centre’s decision would prevail.

Read | Centre vs Bengal: What the rules say about WB Chief Secy's transfer

However, the Chief Minister latched on to another part of the same section of the Rules which stated that a cadre officer can be deputed for service under the Centre or another state government or a company with the “concurrence of the state governments concerned and the central government,” claiming that the Centre neither held any discussion nor sought any prior consent of the West Bengal government before issuing the transfer order of Bandyopadhyay.

The Chief Minister, on the afternoon of May 31, announced that Bandyopadhyay who, prior to the three-month extension granted by the Centre, was scheduled to retire that day, had superannuated and hence the Centre could no longer avail his services. She also said that the state government had appointed Bandyopadhyay as Chief Adviser to the Chief Minister for three years.

Her announcement came soon after the Union Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension wrote another letter to the Chief Secretary asking him to join the services of the Government of India by 10 am on June 1.

Former bureaucrats are of the opinion that with his retirement, the Centre no longer has any control over Bandyopadhyay and any attempt to take penal action against him for not joining central duty is also likely to be futile since he retired as the Chief Secretary of the West Bengal government.

Speaking to DH, former West Bengal chief secretary Basudeb Banerjee said that the Centre’s transfer order for Bandyopadhyay was itself “bad in law” as it was issued without “concurrence” of the state government, which is against the rules.

Also Read | Centre vs Bengal: Chief Secy Bandyopadhyay issued show cause notice as row heats up

“He retired as Chief Secretary, West Bengal. So, as an IAS officer, he was under the disciplinary control of the West Bengal government. Disciplinary action can be taken against a government officer till about three years after retirement. But since he was in service of the West Bengal government till the last day before he retired, if any disciplinary action has to be taken, it has to be done by the West Bengal government. The Centre does not have any direct role to play here,” said Banerjee.

Retired IAS officer and former CEO of Prasar Bharati Jawahar Sircar said that it was “not proper for the PM” to try to transfer the Chief Secretary of West Bengal on the last day of his service.

“The law and Rule 6(1) of the Indian Administrative Service (Cadre) Rules 1954 clearly states that IAS officers of a state can be released for central deputation only with the consent of the state, not otherwise. The Centre can intervene only when a serious conflict arises between the two governments, but that stage has not come,” he said.