Delhi govt recommends suspension of Principal Secretary

New Delhi: Delhi Government Wednesday recommended that the Centre suspend Principal Secretary Sanjay Pratap Singh arrested by CBI yesterday for allegedly demanding a bribe of Rs 2.2 lakh, as it warned ministers, legislators and officers of strict action if they are involved in corruption.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said that there is no space for any "corrupt" officer in the Delhi government which was ready to send back "corrupt" officers to the Centre.

On the direction of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Secretary K K Sharma has written to Union Home Ministry-- which is cadre-controlling authority of IAS officers-- and recommended Singh's suspension.

Sisodia said that the CBI showed great promptness and alertness in this case, adding that the Delhi government along with the agency will catch "corrupt officers".

"We want to give a clear message to officers involved in corruption that they won't be spared...Singh's arrest message is if you are corrupt, we won't spare you irrespective of whether you are a peon, MLAs, officer or minister," Sisodia told a press conference here today.

The Deputy CM said that he had also got some information about S P Singh's wrongdoings, but due to lack of evidence, action could not be taken against him earlier.

When asked why Delhi government did not take action against the IAS officer when there were allegations against him, he said, "We want Centre to take all such officers (corrupt) back and we are ready for this."

Sisodia said that Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) is not with the Delhi government, but despite that we will not spare anyone found corrupt.

Last night, CBI arrested the IAS officer for allegedly demanding a bribe of Rs 2.2 lakh from the owner of a firm that supplies security guards and other manpower for clearing pending bills.

V K Vishwas, complainant in SP Singh's case, was also present in the press conference. He said that Singh allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 2,000 per security guard and so far for 55 security guards, it came to Rs 2.20 lakh.

Gopal Mohan, who is Anti-corruption advisor in the CM Office, said that Vishwas was guided in trapping Singh who was arrested by the CBI while taking the bribe.

"The complainant had recently approached Chief Minister's Office. The CM's Office then guided the complainant in trapping the official and tonight got S P Singh arrested by CBI red-handed. CBI acted on a communication received from CM's Office," a Delhi government spokesperson had yesterday said.