Yet another district magistrate of South West Delhi IAS Lakshya Singhal caught in controversy after a video went viral in which he is seen welcoming a priest and allowing the priest looking elderly man to sit on his official chair of district magistrate.
The authenticity of the video is yet to be verified but the Delhi government is said to have taken cognisance of the video. A senior officer has questioned the gesture shown by Singhal in his office to a ‘Godman'.
A couple of days back, IAS Hemant Kumar was suspended over awarding astronomically high compensation in a land acquisition case while serving as district magistrate of South West Delhi.
Also read : Home ministry suspends IAS Hemant Kumar, seeks CBI probe over awarding astronomical compensation
What does Lakshya Singhal say
According to reports, a senior officer of Delhi government has asked Lakshya Singhal about his unconventional hospitality.
Singhal, a 2019 batch, Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre, defended his actions, explaining that the priest held a special place in his life, akin to a grandfather figure, which led him to extend this gesture of respect and hospitality.
As per reports, the government has not taken any actions against the officer as such.
“The maximum punishment for this action if at all could be a verbal warning. However, young bureaucrats should differentiate their conduct between professional and personal sphere. Being at key position, their conduct is continuously under watch.
The BuckStopper, run by a group of seasoned journalists, holds the powerful accountable. The buck stops with them, as they cannot shrug off their official responsibilities.
