Centre seeks report from UP in Durga Nagpal suspension case

The Centre has sought a report from Samajwadi Party-led Uttar Pradesh government on suspension of an IAS officer, who had cracked down on sand mafia involved in rampant quarrying along the banks of Yamuna river.

The move comes in the backdrop of Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday writing a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, saying that Durga Sakthi Nagpal, a 2010-batch officer, should not be “unfairly treated”.

The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has shown urgency in the matter and written to the UP government seeking a report on 28-year-old Ms. Nagpal’s suspension, official sources said.

A state government has to mandatorily give a report to the Centre in case of suspension of an IAS officer, the sources said, adding that it is still awaited from the U.P. authorities in Ms. Nagpal’s case.

Ms. Nagpal, who belongs to the UP cadre, was suspended on July 27 ostensibly for ordering demolition of a wall of a local under-construction mosque without following the due process.