Sources said the Raj Bhavan security staff called the police, and the two officers were taken to the Capital police station in a ‘police vehicle.’ (Express Photo)
One of the two Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officers, who were allegedly subjected to “high-handed treatment” by the security staff at Odisha’s Raj Bhavan, is a frequent visitor to the campus and had also met Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati on several occasions.
The two IRS officers — a joint commissioner of the 2015 batch and an assistant commissioner of the 2023 batch — were allegedly turned away from the Lok Bhavan campus and taken to the Capital police station in a police vehicle on Thursday.
The incident occurred when the two officers were on official duty to coordinate the visit of the Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax (PCCIT), Odisha, who paid a courtesy visit to the Governor along with a delegation. The police said the incident occurred due to “miscommunication”.
As per a petition filed by one of the IRS officers, when they were waiting in a hall near the aide-de-camp’s chamber, four to five policemen came and asked them to go with them, saying that they had gained unauthorised entry into Lok Bhavan. This, despite the IRS officers sharing their identity and telling them that they were waiting there with the knowledge of the ADC (Navy) and OSD to Governor.
“We cooperated with them, and offered to leave in our office vehicles. However, they told us to come with them in their police vehicle, and we cooperated,” read the petition by the official.
From Lok Bhavan, the officers were taken directly to the Capital Police Station.
Though the officers were allowed to leave, they said they were again called to the police station in the afternoon, as a security personnel member at Lok Bhavan had complained that one of the two officers seemed to be in a drunken state and both had to be removed.
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“We humbly offered ourselves for a breath analyser test, which was humbly declined by the police officers at the PS, stating quietly clearly that there were absolutely no such complaints about either of us, being in a state of inebriation, and that it was not required,” reads the petition.
One of the IRS officers, who is from Odisha, said the situation was embarrassing for him as his father had served in the Lok Bhavan for over 34 years and retired last November at the rank of Deputy Secretary to Governor. The officer sad he along with his father had met the governor on multiple occasions earlier.
Describing the incident as “deeply distressing”, D Sudhakara Rao, the PCCIT, wrote to the commissioner-cum-secretary to the Governor saying the two young officers were treated as “unauthorised entrants.”
“This treatment occurred despite the fact that our support staff and drivers remained on the premises undisturbed. Furthermore, false aspersions regarding their sobriety were reportedly cast, which was subsequently proven baseless at the police station,” he noted.
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The PCCIT also stated that such high-handedness toward senior civil servants is an affront to the dignity of their office.
Responding on the issue, a senior Raj Bhavan official said the issue could have been handled in a more cordial manner by the ADC (police). “There was absolutely no need to send the two young civil servants to the police station in a humiliating manner. An internal probe will be conducted,” said the official requesting anonymity.
Roopa Roshan Sahoo, the commissioner-cum-secretary to the Governor, said she has received the petition sent by the PCCIT and will verify the matter.
