By Sanu George
Thiruvananthapuram, May 8 (IANS) Armed with documents revealed through the Right to Information (RTI), former accountant general of Kerala James Joseph has sought a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe on why he was not appointed a member of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT).
Joseph, 62, for the past four years has been collecting documents on how he was allegedly sidelined for the job and has written to the prime minister, vice-president and now the CBI on what he says was an injustice meted out to him.
A member of the Indian Audit and Accounts Service (IA&AS), he served as the accountant general here from 1991 to 1995 and took voluntary retirement in May 1996 at the age of 47 from the post of joint secretary to the government of India in the Department of Personnel and Training.
Joseph told IANS he applied for the post of administrative member, CAT, in August 2004 and the selection committee chose him along with N. Ramakrishnan, who joined the post at Kochi May 2005.
"Since then I knocked on all doors to know why I was denied a posting and later through the RTI Act I got the information that I was not appointed because there was an adverse Intelligence Bureau report against me," said Joseph.
"I was shocked to hear about it because if there was any such report, then how was I appointed to the crucial Department of Personnel as joint secretary after my tenure as accountant general here? Moreover, as per government rules, an employee shall not be permitted to voluntarily retire if any disciplinary proceedings are pending or contemplated."
Joseph feels this happened because he is a retired IA&AS and not an IAS officer and he applied for the post directly to the chairman CAT , bypassing the department of personnel.
Joseph also feels that he is being targeted because as the accountant general here, he came out with an audit report in the now infamous Palm Oil import case in which P.J. Thomas is an accused and which led to the latter's exit as central vigilance commissioner (CVC).
Thomas' appointment as CVC was struck down by the Supreme Court. He was Kerala's civil supplies secretary in 1992 when the alleged palm oil scam took place. The palm oil case was registered in 1999, accusing Thomas and others of a criminal conspiracy and causing a loss of Rs.2.32 crore to the state exchequer. The accused allegedly imported 15,000 tonnes of palm oil from Malaysia at an inflated price for distribution through fair price shops.
"I will fight the injustice meted out to me in the context of the apex court's judgement nullifying the appointment of Thomas as CVC and coming down heavily on arbitrariness in key appointments," said Joseph.
"Moreover I was encouraged by the recent statement made by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that action would be taken against anyone, irrespective of their position, if a wrong is done," added Joseph.
"My time is over but such things should not happen to anyone and if I am able to bring out the truth, it would go a long way in establishing much needed propriety, objectivity and transparency in sensitive appointments," said Joseph who now leads a retired life here.