Senior IAS officer Madireddy Pratap, who was one of the hot favourite officers of former Andhra Pradesh CM late Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, had to pay penalty for his loose tongue, while expressing anguish over his sudden transfer from the post of APSRTC chairman recently.
Pratap, a 1990-batch IAS officer, was shifted to Andhra Pradesh Special Police Battalion. But within three days, he was transferred again and asked to report to the General Administration Department led by IAS officer Praveen Prakash.
What is worse, he was served with a show-cause notice for addressing a press conference on July 13 as certain comments made by him were in clear violation of IAS (Conduct) Rules, 1968.
According to the rules, "no member of the All India Service shall, in any communication to press/media shall make any statement which has the effect of an adverse criticism of action of the State Government."
Stating that the conduct of Pratap is unbecoming of an IAS officer, the notice asked him to explain the reasons as to why disciplinary action should not be initiated against him.
He was asked to reply within seven days from the date of the receipt of the notice, failing which, necessary further action will be taken as per the material available with the government in the matter.
What did Pratap say? He told the media that he was transferred abruptly and the GO was issued after midnight.
“I came to know about my transfer only through media reports. I don’t mind being transferred, but I should have brought in several reforms had I been continued in the RTC,” he said.
The IPS officer tried to give an impression that he was closer to the YSR family.
“In fact, on the night of my transfer, Vijayamma (Jagan’s mother) had sent me a cake. I went to bed after eating the cake, but the next morning, I came to know that I was transferred,” he said.
But what angered chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy was his comments about other officers who had to face the CBI investigation because of lack of integrity.
“Several officers in the YSR government were questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), but I was not. This was because, I was functioning independently and the CBI knew that I was a man of integrity,” he said.
It clearly implied that several IAS officers had to face troubles because of their involvement in the CBI case against Jagan. So, there is no surprise the chief minister is angry with Pratap.
In fact, Jagan brought Pratap specifically because he had played a key role in developing Information Technology and infrastructure projects in combined Andhra Pradesh during the YSR regime.
He was head of the APSRTC and also the newly-formed Public Transport Department only a few months ago. But because of his loose tongue, Pratap has now landed in trouble.
