High Court slams IAS Officer who gave clean-chit to Officials in Scam inquiry

Manjunath Prasad, Principal Secretary at Revenue Department, earned the wrath of the Madras High Court after the IAS officer found no wrong in the transfer of officials.

Prasad was directed to hold an inquiry into the allegations that about 300 officers of Survey Settlement and Land Records were transferred in exchange of bribe.

Justice SN Satyanarayana and Justice Shankar Magadum were hearing the petition filed by the then Commissioner for Survey Settlement and Land Records Munish Moudgil. Although the commissioner, who took charge in 2017, had canceled the transfer orders of 300 officials, they had got a stay from the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal (KAT).

Moudgil later approached the High Court with the permission of the government.

“This Court is aghast to accept and digest the said report,” the order copy, dated March 10, states.

“It is clearly seen that there has been an unseen pressure by unknown sources on the Principal Secretary Revenue Department Manjunath Prasad in giving this farce of a report. We can only pity him for having succumbed to the pressure.”

“The Court painfully places on record that these transfers which are claimed in the public interest are nothing but a farce. The report which is submitted by the Principal Secretary is nothing but a slap on the face of truth... Therefore, the report which is submitted to this court is not even worth the paper on which it is printed,” the Court said, rejecting the report.

When contacted, Manjunath Prasad said he found no evidence of bribe paid for the transfer but refused to get into details.

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