New Delhi: A section of AIIMS faculty has demanded an enquiry into the sudden removal of ex-chief vigilance officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi without informing the Chief Vigilance Commission.
They also demanded that Chaturvedi should be reinstated as striping him off the CVO charge at AIIMS was "malafide" and the process of doing so "incorrect".
"In the last two years of his tenure, Chaturvedi unearthed a string of corruption cases at AIIMS, and many enquiries including CBI investigations are being conducted against corrupt officials.
"This would not have been possible without the CVC being aware of Chaturvedi's position as CVO, AIIMS and conducting routine transactions with him as CVO. In fact, Chaturvedi's name was displayed on the CVC website as CVO, AIIMS," said faculty members in a statement issued under the Forum for Rights and Equality.
Further, the members pointed out that prior approval of the CVC is required only in case of appointment of CVO of specific (commercial) organizations, as per the set rules.
AIIMS and a number of other autonomous educational and research organizations do not appear in that list; and the CVO to a number of autonomous institutions have been appointed without the prior approval of CVC as it is not mandatory.
"The ministry is disturbingly silent on the issue of complaints against Chaturvedi, despite requests in the media to bring them out in the open. It appears that behind-the-scenes manipulations have led to the 'shunting out' of this upright officer. The real danger is in the manner of the removal. By stating the officer was not eligible for the post, the Ministry has opened the door for all culprits likely to be indicted in various scams unearthed by Chaturvedi to go scot free by citing his ineligibility as evidence of inappropriateness of the probes that he ordered," the doctor's group alleged.
The faculty members of AIIMS have launched a signature campaign in support of Chaturvedi which will be submitted to the Prime Minister soon.
Chaturvedi was removed from his post on August 14. His tenure as CVO was to have lasted till June, 2016.
