NEW DELHI: A senior official in the Delhi government’s Women and Child Development department, who is accused of raping his deceased friend’s minor daughter, was suspended on Monday.
Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar issued the suspension order of Premoday Khakha after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal asked him to suspend the officer.
"A disciplinary proceeding against Premoday Khakha working in the department on the post of Assistant Director is contemplated. Therefore, in the exercise of the powers conferred by sub-rule (1) of Rule 10 of the Central Civil Services (Classification, Control, and Appeal) Rules, 1965, Sh. Premoday Khakha, Assistant Director is hereby placed under suspension with immediate effect,” the order read.
Meanwhile, the news led to a political slugfest between the ruling AAP and the Opposition.
Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva accused AAP of 'hand picking' the officer as the Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Minister Atishi who is heading the WCD department.
“The officer charged with raping a minor was Kejriwal government’s favorite and was handpicked to serve as OSD to the Minister of WCD,” he said.
In response, Atishi said that the accused officer never worked together. “This is false information. The accused has never worked with me as an OSD,” Atishi said.
However, the documents showed tell a different tale to Atishi’s response. Khaka served as the OSD to Minister Kailash Gahlot, in addition to his work as Deputy Director, when the WCD department was under him. However, after Atishi took over, the officer was repatriated, according to an order dated March 13. On March 23, Atishi desired that Khaka be again assigned the charge of OSD to her given his 'domain knowledge' and well 'conversant with important issues related to the department. An official order was issued by her secretary.
His new posting was confirmed on March 29 after the WCD department issued an official order in this regard. “In compliance of office note vide no. Secy to Min/2022/978 dated 23.03.2022, Sh. Prem Uday Khakha, Assistant Director, DWCD is deputed as OSD to Hon’ble Minister, WCD in addition to assigned charges in DWCD. This issue with the prior approval of the Director, DWCD,” the order read.
