A civil servant in Bihar was suspended for issuing a travel pass to a BJP MLA who had recently travelled to Kota to bring back his daughter. (Express File Photo by Prem Nath Pandey)
A civil servant in Bihar was suspended for issuing a travel pass to a BJP MLA who had recently travelled to Kota to bring back his daughter, news agency PTI reported.
Anu Kumar, the Sub Divisional Ofice, Sadar, Nawada district was suspended with immediate effect for issuing a pass to Anil Singh, who represents the Hisua assembly segment, a notification issued by the states general department late Tuesday stated.
Anil Singh had obtained the pass on April 15 and left for Kota a day later, from where he brought back his 17-year-old daughter. The legislator had claimed his daughter, a medical aspirant, had gone into depression after she was left alone with her coaching classes suspended and most of her hostel mates having left for their homes.
The notification said Kumar has been found guilty of negligence in issuing the pass facilitating inter-state travel, which should not have been issued except in extraordinary circumstances during the lockdown period.
Disciplinary action has also been recommended against the SDO who shall be attached to the office of the Divisional Commissioner, Magadh Division, during the period of his suspension, the notification said.
Opposition parties in the state had taken a strong exception to the incident in light of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s disapproval of various state governments arranging transport to bring back students stranded in Kota, a COVID-19 hotspot.
The Opposition had accused the government of extending the facility to a VIP from the ruling coalition while speaking of commitment to the nationwide lockdown.
Singh, who is also the chief whip in the BJP state assembly, has been provided with a government-owned vehicle in that capacity.
The driver of the car was also slapped with a show-cause notice on Monday for taking the vehicle out of the state without due approval from the secretariat.
Singh, however, claimed that he did not use the government-owned SUV but his private Fortuner for the journey, though he had obtained passes for both vehicles “by way of abundant caution”.