Itanagar: A women’s organization in Arunachal Pradesh has expressed disappointment at the reinstatement of a tainted official at a top post in the state’s tax and excise department.
Tani Jongkey, who was booked by police under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, has been reinstated as tax & excise joint commissioner recently as per court orders.
The Arunachal Pradesh Womens Welfare Society (APWWS) said in a statement on Friday that Jongkey was able to rejoin the department because of non-submission of the inquiry report on time.
Jongkey was booked for alleged sexual assault on an 11-year-old schoolgirl on June 2, 2017 and put under suspension on November 22 last year.
He had faced charges under sections 341, 354 and section 8 of the POCSO Act for alleged sexual assault on the minor girl.
The Itanagar Permanent Bench of Gauhati High Court on March 7 this year had noted that even after the expiry of 90 days, the suspension order of Jongkey was not revoked or modified by the review committee of the department as per the provision of the Central Services Rules.
The court had directed the state authorities to revoke the suspension order and reinstate Jongkey in service from November 22 2017, the day he was suspended. The court further directed the government to pay all consequential service benefits, including arrears of pay and allowances, due to the officer.
In an order issued on August 6, Tax & Excise Commissioner Anirudh Singh said that the officer had been reinstated because of serious lapses on the part of the officers and officials of the department as the file and the proposal for extending the suspension order were not submitted on time to the competent authority.
Tax & Excise Deputy Commissioner Ando Pangkam has been appointed to ascertain the procedural lapses that led to the delay in review of suspension order and fixation of responsibility against the negligent officer.
In another directive, the commissioner had further directed that no specific duty may be assigned to Jongkey as long as the departmental inquiry was pending.
Meanwhile, the report of the government-constituted two-member panel to inquire into the charges against Jongkey is yet to be submitted.
The APWWS has urged the state government to establish an independent child rights commission for taking up cases involving childrens rights. It also appealed for the early constitution of the APSCW with members from the empanelled list prepared by the outgoing commission. (PTI)
