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Virendra Kapoor | April 26, 2003
There is an old saying that truth never gets old. But Krishna Singh, a 1966 Bihar cadre IAS officer, thought it would -- and die and be buried. Her date of birth, as per government files, is April 4, 1943. Which means she is due to retire this month. But the member-secretary of the National Commission on Population moved the Department of Personnel last year, saying her 'actual' date of birth was April 4, 1944. Vasundhara Raje, then minister of state for personnel, lost no time in treating Singh's application as the gospel truth, though the rules prescribe any such request must be made in the initial years of service. Singh would have gotten away with it, given the connections her brother Nand Kishore Singh, himself a superannuated IAS officer, has -- but then a senior DoP official played spoilsport. Since in those early days of Independence, the British-based examination system at the school-leaving stage was in vogue, he emailed the relevant authority in England inquiring whether it still retained old examination records. Yes, it did. And, yes, it could provide Singh's year of birth as listed in her school records for a nominal fee. The confirmation came. According to which Singh is 1943 born. Singh has now got a stay against her retirement from a relevant body. Now it is for the government to make its move. Back at it Ashok Aggarwal, an Indian Revenue Service official chargesheeted for alleged involvement in a major financial scam, has been quietly reinstated after a favourable order from the Central Administrative Tribunal. This, despite that he faces trial for fraud, wrongful confinement and bribery. The prosecution case is that Aggarwal planted incriminating evidence on a New Delhi jeweller to extract money. The surprise here is the Department of Personnel has not appealed against the CAT order. That too, when the DoP is headed by L K Advani, who normally goes to great lengths to put down wrongdoings. Speaks volumes for Aggarwal's resourcefulness, does it not? Pals no more  The Reliance Group is no longer cosy with the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.
Even worse for the rulers, Reliance has gone and backed the main Opposition, the Congress. Insiders say a surefire sign of this can be seen in Rajya Sabha member Rajiv Shukla's joining the Congress. Illustrations: Uttam Ghosh
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