Express News Service
HASSAN: With her reinstatement as the Hassan deputy commissioner, young IAS officer Rohini Sindhuri emerged victorious in her fight against the mighty sand mafia and political satraps. Posted as the Deputy Commissioner of Hassan district on July 14, 2017, Rohini soon came under the cross-hairs of the local sand mafia as she started cracking down on the illegal mining and transportation of sand which was rampant in the Hemavathi river bed in Sakaleshpura, Beluru and Aluru areas.
As Rohini’s style of functioning attracted the wrath of the local political bosses including the then district in-charge minister A Manju, the Siddaramaiah government shunted her out of the district on January 22, 2018. She fought a legal battle against her premature transfer which drew national attention.
Her differences with Manju had been long drawn. They were on a collision course over a tender to construct the scaffolding at Shravanabelagola for the world famous Mahamastakabhisheka. The rift between the minister and the bureaucrat deteriorated later and pressure mounted on Siddaramaiah to transfer her.
She had to face action with state government issuing a show cause notice for “violation of protocol” that as she was not present to receive and see off Siddaramaiah during his visit to Shravanabelagola for Mahamastakabhisheka. She, however, denied the reports of receiving any show cause notice.
Rohini made national headlines when a case was booked against Manju for alleged violation of the model code of conduct during the Assembly elections.
The minister was asked to explain why he used his office at the Inspection Bungalow for political activity on February 30 when the election code of conduct was in force. The Rohini-Manju tiff attained a political dimension as Hassan MP HD Deve Gowda and his son HD Revanna stood by her to check Manju’s political growth. The father-son duo lambasted Siddaramaiah and Manju for transferring her. While Manju suffered a defeat in the assembly elections, the JD(S) which exploited the tiff to its political advantage is now the partner of the Congress in the coalition government.
Revanna refused to comment on the high court decision setting aside a Central Administrative Tribunal order which had upheld Rohini’s transfer.
Public support
The decision of the High Court was welcomed by different sections of people here. Vanajakshi, a retired school teacher, said the state government should come up with a new law on transfers of IAS and IPS officers. The government should not transfer any officials within two years, she added.
Welcoming the HC decision, businessmen, advocates and farmers opined that coordination among district in-charge minister, superintendent of police and the deputy commissioner is important and the district will improve if they work honestly setting their ego aside, they opined.
Shunted out after cracking down on mining mafia
According to the petition filed before High Court, Rohini was posted as deputy commissioner, Hassan on July 12, 2017, and she had served eight months. Notwithstanding the statutory period of two years of tenure that she is entitled to serve at Hassan and not appreciating her distinguished career as a civil servant, she was seeking to be shunted out of Hassan, for political reasons by an order dated January 22, 2018.
This was apparently because she cracked down the mining mafia which enraged the local politicians who carried a tirade against her to the Chief Minister, who succumb to their political pressures, directed to pass the premature transfer order. The order was withdrawn after the Election Commission of India expressed displeasure that, “In spite of bringing to the notice of the government the two-year minimum tenure, the government is not acting upon the same”, said in the petition filed.
