Patna: Two IPS officers from Bihar are caught in a standoff that has not only come out in the public domain but is potentially putting Chief Minister Nitish Kumar under fire from the opposition.
Inspector General, Home Guards and Fire Services, Vikas Vaibhav had made several tweets accusing Director General Shobha Ohtkar of unnecessarily abusing him. Due to this, the DG rejected his application for leave of two months and issued a show cause notice.
This is not the first time that a senior officer has been accused of using foul language and ill-treating subordinates and colleagues. As recently as last week, senior IAS officers KK Pathak He was in the news for all the wrong reasons after a video went viral in which he can be heard using profanities to pull up a deputy collector. Pathak later apologized but still maintained that the trainees were undisciplined.
Both Ohtkar and Vaibhav are known for their strict image and execution of their work. It all started when the IG made a tweet against his senior on Wednesday. He tweeted, “I have performed my duty as IG to the best of my ability since October 18, 2022. Every day I am unnecessarily abused by Madam DG.”
Though he deleted the tweet, the damage was already done as screenshots of it went viral across the media.
After this Ohtkar sent a notice to Vaibhav Friday Stating that he violated the All India Services Conduct Rules and the Official Secrets Act as he claimed that he had an audio recording of an official meeting in support of his allegations. The IG was given 24 hours to present its case.
On Friday, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expressed displeasure over the officer taking to social media and said that he has asked senior officials to investigate.
“You must know this very well, anybody working in a job, an officer, their job is not to tweet. This is the worst thing. If they have any problems, they should inform their department, or superiors. He should express it personally, not declare it publicly. This is the law,” said the chief minister.
Calls made by ThePrint to the IG did not elicit any response.
Even though he could not be reached over phone, the IPS officer on Saturday put out a cryptic tweet in Sanskrit/Hindi which roughly translates to: ‘The five signs of a fool are pride, anger, stubborn argument, dirty talk and others’. Lack of respect towards ‘people’.
“Moorkhasya pancha signi garvo durvachanam tatha.
Krodhascha dharvadavascha paravakyeshvnadarah.That is – “The five signs of a fool are pride, bad temper, anger, caste logic and lack of respect for other people.”#saturday thoughts
Vikas Vaibhav, IPS (@vikasvaibhavips) February 11, 2023
Retired Chief Secretary of State VS Dubey felt the irony was that the two officers who were questioned were known for their positive image. “Both these police officers have excellent track records and are well-known actors. But this does not justify the use of profanity or violation of service code.
Strict but overzealous officer?
Shobha Ohtkar, a 1990 batch IPS officer, is renowned for dealing tough with criminals and politicians when it comes to flouting the law. As SP Vaishali, he took on BJP MLA Nityanand Rai, now MoS Home Department, in a murder case, In the 2005 Bihar elections, he arrested RJD minister late Udit Rai for turning out with an armed guard on the day of polling in his constituency. Then she was the SP of Chhapra district.
Vaibhav also has a reputation for performing in the field. As SP of Rohtas district, he brought extreme leftist elements to the point of extinction. he did in 2005 Arrested From Patna in the case of Mokama’s Bahubali Anant Singh murder. Apart from law and order duties, the 2003 IPS officer conducts a drive on Bihar’s history on social media and he has deep knowledge about authors and historical places of the state.
As what is going on in the corridors of power, former Union minister RCP Singh said that such controversies show how things are falling apart in Bihar.
“The moment you become an IAS or IPS officer, there are certain things that you have to do or cannot do. Your identity is the position you hold. You can’t be free. You are expected to follow the rules of the system.
In December last year, IPS officer Amit Lodha A case was registered for non-compliance of service code and other irregularities. Similarly, IAS officer Harjot Kaur Bamrah courted controversy in September when she mocked a girl for distributing free sanitary napkins to girl students.
“If you want to be a public icon, it is better you resign because your performance does not give you a license to defy the system. The tragedy is that such incidents are allowed to happen. Chief Secretary or DGP for what They should deal with it with a heavy hand. Unfortunately, they look up to the chief minister for feedback,” said Singh, a former IAS officer.
(Edited by Tony Rae)
Read also: Nitish’s refusal to relinquish the reins behind the RJD-JD(U) tension. Key posts going to CM’s men