New Delhi: In an open letter, over 90 former civil servants from across the country have demanded for a SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities case to be filed against Hathras police and district magistrate officials, whose alleged negligence have impacted the investigation into the Hathras gangrape and murder incident.The signatories of the letter include retired civil servants from the Indian administrative, revenue, foreign and forest services, who had worked in top positions both in the Central and state governments.They have urged the officials of the Uttar Pradesh government not to give into the pressure exerted by the political class to facilitate a cover-up. “We urge them to live up to the proud traditions of the Indian Administrative Service and the Indian Police Service, in whom the people of this country still repose faith. The meek surrender of the Uttar Pradesh bureaucracy and police, especially its All-India Services, to political diktat has shamed all of us who deem it a badge of honour to belong to these services,” the signatories have said.The full statement, along with the list of signatories, has been reproduced below.§Dear Chief Minister,Just when we thought that nothing could numb our consciences and brains further, the handling of the Hathras incident by the Uttar Pradesh administration has shown that, as a nation, we are plumbing the depths of depravity and callousness in governance. A young Dalit woman is brutally violated. Almost three weeks after the incident, the police are yet to confirm the crime of rape and are still spinning theories around it, although the video of what amounts to her dying declaration seems to confirm it. Her neck was lacerated, her spinal column was broken and there were cuts on her tongue. Instead of promptly admitting her to a hospital with advanced facilities for dealing with trauma, she was allowed to languish in the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital, Aligarh. She was moved to Delhi only two weeks after the incident, that too on the request of her family, a case of too little, too late. What followed was an even greater travesty of justice and basic human values. After her death, her body was despatched post haste to her village and cremated in the dead of night by policemen. Being a person attached to a persuasion of the Hindu faith, you would be well aware that Hindu customs require the nearest kin to offer agni to the mortal remains. Both the sacred traditions and the family’s pleas that they would perform the cremation in the morning were ignored. To add insult to injury, a policeman is reported to have told the bereaved family that they were also to blame and the District Magistrate has apparently been captured on video making veiled threats to the family that they should be careful about their statements to the media, because the officials would be around even after the media departs.It is being touted in the media that the Prime Minister has asked you to “fast track” this case to secure an early conviction. With our experience as erstwhile administrators in different departments of the central and state governments, our group of former civil servants had, in the past, highlighted the brazen violations of the rule of law in the Unnao rape case and in the murder of the police inspector in Bulandshahr. We note with concern that, even after two years, the ghastly murder of a brother officer has not stirred the UP police and your administration to bring the case to closure. In these circumstances, we may be forgiven for viewing UP’s fast track justice system with scepticism.We are, in fact, concerned with the novel interpretations of fast track justice in the state governed by you. In recent days, we have seen two instances where alleged criminals have met their deaths while being transported by the police to Uttar Pradesh. Even if they were guilty of the offences listed against them, they were entitled, under the Constitution of India and the laws of the land, to a fair trial. Denial of this right amounts to violation of Article 21 of the Constitution. Your administration has also initiated draconian measures against anti-CAA protesters, including detention and levy of punitive fines. You seem to believe in combining the roles of judge and executioner, as evidenced in a recent interview where you advocated the philosophy of “an eye for an eye.” Equally reprehensible, some months ago, you ordered the withdrawal of cases registered against you in the past. Politicians never tire of saying “the law must take its course”. Why depart from this article of faith for your party and government?The Hathras district administration feels it can flout human sentiments at will, apart from rapidly disposing of evidence in cases of offences against the body. All those complicit in these violations of law and tradition must be punished. While it is in the order of things that you have suspended the Superintendent of Police, there are adequate grounds for immediate suspension of the District Magistrate as well; we insist that departmental proceedings against them be started at the earliest. Action under Section 4 of The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 must be initiated against all those officers and men of the district police and the executive magistracy who have wilfully neglected the duties enjoined on them under this Act. We also note with regret that the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police have failed abjectly in exercising control over a highly compromised administration. We urge them to live up to the proud traditions of the Indian Administrative Service and the Indian Police Service, in whom the people of this country still repose faith. The meek surrender of the Uttar Pradesh bureaucracy and police, especially its All-India Services, to political diktat has shamed all of us who deem it a badge of honour to belong to these services.But, ultimately, all responsibility rests with you as the Chief Executive of the state. Your actions over the past three and a half years give us little reason to believe that your actions are motivated by respect for the rule of law. We urge you to conduct your administration in accordance with the letter and spirit of the Constitution of India, to which you have sworn allegiance when you assumed office. In the present instance, we hope you will deliver justice to the victim and her family, without fear or favour, despite the efforts of specific upper caste groups to interfere with the course of justice. We also hope you will ensure that officers of your administration implement the rule of law in a just and fair manner.SATYAMEVA JAYATE Yours sincerely,(92 signatories, as below)1.Anita AgnihotriIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Department of Social Justice Empowerment, GoI2.Salahuddin AhmadIAS (Retd.)Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Rajasthan3.Shafi AlamIPS (Retd.)Former Director General, National Crime Records Bureau, GoI4.S.P. AmbroseIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Secretary, Ministry of Shipping & Transport, GoI5.Anand ArniR&AW (Retd.)Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI6.N. Bala BaskarIAS (Retd.)Former Principal Adviser (Finance), Ministry of External Affairs, GoI7.Vappala BalachandranIPS (Retd.)Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI8.Gopalan BalagopalIAS (Retd.)Former Special Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal9.Chandrashekhar BalakrishnanIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Coal, GoI10.Rana BanerjiIAS (Retd.)Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat (R&AW), GoI11.Sharad BeharIAS (Retd.)Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh12.Madhu BhaduriIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to Portugal13.Meeran C BorwankarIPS (Retd.)Former Commissioner of Police, Pune, Govt. of Maharashtra14.Ravi BudhirajaIAS (Retd.)Former Chairman, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, GoI15.Sundar BurraIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra16.R. ChandramohanIAS (Retd.)Former Principal Secretary, Transport and Urban Development, Govt. of NCT of Delhi17.Rachel ChatterjeeIAS (Retd.)Former Special Chief Secretary, Agriculture, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh18.Kalyani ChaudhuriIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal19.Anna DaniIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra20.Vibha Puri DasIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, GoI21.P.R. DasguptaIAS (Retd.)Former Chairman, Food Corporation of India, GoI22.Nitin DesaiIES (Retd.)Former Secretary and Chief Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance, GoI23.Keshav DesirajuIAS (Retd.)Former Health Secretary, GoI24.M.G. DevasahayamIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Govt. of Haryana25.Sushil DubeyIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to Sweden26.A.S. DulatIPS (Retd.)Former OSD on Kashmir, Prime Minister’s Office, GoI27.K.P. FabianIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to Italy28.Gourisankar GhoshIAS (Retd.)Former Mission Director, National Drinking Water Mission, GoI29.Suresh K. GoelIFS (Retd.)Former Director General, Indian Council of Cultural Relations, GoI30.S.K. GuhaIAS (Retd.)Former Joint Secretary, Department of Women & Child Development, GoI31.H.S. GujralIFoS (Retd.)Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Govt. of Punjab32.Meena GuptaIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forests, GoI33.Ravi Vira GuptaIAS (Retd.)Former Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India34.Wajahat HabibullahIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, GoI and Chief Information Commissioner35.Deepa HariIRS (Resigned) 36.Sajjad HassanIAS (Retd.)Former Commissioner (Planning), Govt. of Manipur37.Kamal JaswalIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Department of Information Technology, GoI38.Najeeb JungIAS (Retd.)Former Lieutenant Governor, Delhi39.Rahul KhullarIAS (Retd.)Former Chairman, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India40.K. John KoshyIAS (Retd.)Former State Chief Information Commissioner, West Bengal41.Ajai KumarIFoS(Retd.)Former Director, Ministry of Agriculture, GoI42.Brijesh KumarIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Department of Information Technology, GoI43.Aloke B. LalIPS (Retd.)Former Director General (Prosecution), Govt. of Uttarakhand44.Subodh LalIPoS (Resigned)Former Deputy Director General, Ministry of Communications, GoI45.Harsh ManderIAS (Retd.)Govt. of Madhya Pradesh46.Amitabh MathurIPS (Retd.)Former Director, Aviation Research Centre and Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI47.Aditi MehtaIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Rajasthan48.Shivshankar MenonIFS (Retd.)Former Foreign Secretary and Former National Security Adviser49.Sonalini MirchandaniIFS (Resigned)GoI50.Sunil MitraIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Ministry of Finance, GoI51.Noor MohammadIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, National Disaster Management Authority, Govt. of India52.Avinash MohananeyIPS (Retd.)Former Director General of Police, Govt. of Sikkim53.Jugal MohapatraIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Department of Rural Development, GoI54.Deb MukharjiIFS (Retd.)Former High Commissioner to Bangladesh and former Ambassador to Nepal55.Shiv Shankar MukherjeeIFS (Retd.)Former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom56.Pranab S. MukhopadhyayIAS (Retd.)Former Director, Institute of Port Management, GoI57.P.G.J. NampoothiriIPS (Retd.)Former Director General of Police, Govt. of Gujarat58.Amitabha PandeIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Inter-State Council, GoI59.Mira PandeIAS (Retd.)Former State Election Commissioner, West Bengal60.Niranjan PantIA&AS (Retd.)Former Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General, GoI61.Alok PertiIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Ministry of Coal, GoI62.R. PoornalingamIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, GoI63.R.M. PremkumarIAS (Retd.)Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra64.N.K. RaghupathyIAS (Retd.)Former Chairman, Staff Selection Commission, GoI65.V.P. RajaIAS (Retd.)Former Chairman, Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission66.C. Babu RajeevIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, GoI67.K. Sujatha RaoIAS (Retd.)Former Health Secretary, GoI68.Satwant ReddyIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Chemicals and Petrochemicals, GoI69.Vijaya Latha ReddyIFS (Retd.)Former Deputy National Security Adviser, GoI70.Julio RibeiroIPS (Retd.)Former Adviser to Governor of Punjab & former Ambassador to Romania71.Manabendra N. RoyIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal72.A.K. SamantaIPS (Retd.)Former Director General of Police (Intelligence), Govt. of West Bengal73.Deepak SananIAS (Retd.)Former Principal Adviser (AR) to Chief Minister, Govt. of Himachal Pradesh74.G. SankaranIC&CES (Retd.)Former President, Customs, Excise and Gold (Control) Appellate Tribunal75.S. SatyabhamaIAS (Retd.)Former Chairperson, National Seeds Corporation, GoI76.N.C. SaxenaIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Planning Commission, GoI77.Ardhendu SenIAS (Retd.)Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal78.Abhijit SenguptaIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Ministry of Culture, GoI79.Aftab SethIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to Japan80.Ashok Kumar SharmaIFoS (Retd.)Former MD, State Forest Development Corporation, Govt. of Gujarat81.Ashok Kumar SharmaIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to Finland and Estonia82.Navrekha SharmaIFS (Retd.)Former Ambassador to Indonesia83.Sujatha SinghIFS (Retd.)Former Foreign Secretary, GoI84.Tirlochan SinghIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, National Commission for Minorities, GoI85.Jawhar SircarIAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Ministry of Culture, GoI, & former CEO, Prasar Bharati86.Narendra SisodiaIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary, Ministry of Finance, GoI87.Thanksy ThekkekeraIAS (Retd.)Former Additional Chief Secretary, Minorities Development, Govt. of Maharashtra88.P.S.S. ThomasIAS (Retd.)Former Secretary General, National Human Rights Commission89.Geetha ThoopalIRAS (Retd.)Former General Manager, Metro Railway, Kolkata90.Hindal TyabjiIAS (Retd.)Former Chief Secretary rank, Govt. of Jammu & Kashmir91.Ashok VajpeyiIAS (Retd.)Former Chairman, Lalit Kala Akademi92.Ramani Venkatesan IAS (Retd.)Former Director General, YASHADA, Govt. of Maharashtra
