IF Desk
It may have taken a couple of years, but senior IAS officer Bishnupada Sethi finally stands vindicated as the Odisha Lokayukta quashed a case that accused him not only of wrongful reimbursement of medical bills from the Odisha State Cooperative Bank, but also of misusing his position as its management-in-charge during the 2013-2015 period to illegally get bonus from the bank.
Lokayukta Chairperson Justice Ajit Singh gave a clean chit to Sethi, currently serving as Principal Secretary of Revenue and Disaster Management department, while closing the case filed against him by social activist Srikanta Pakal.
The Lokayukta observed in its order that there was no valid ground left for pursuing the charges against Sethi due to two main reasons.
Firstly, the preliminary inquiry report of the Director of Inquiry, who was assigned by the corruption ombudsman to probe into the case, went in favour of the senior bureaucrat. After all, the Director of Inquiry found that the allegation of Sethi reimbursing Rs 9,46,071 was factually wrong. Instead, it emerged from the probe that he had gotten only Rs 3.27 lakh reimbursed for the treatment of his father and wife – something that he was legally entitled to and for which he had even taken prior permission from the state government.
Secondly, as a goodwill gesture, Sethi had already returned the entire amount of Rs 3.27 lakh in three cheques to the OSCB last month.
The Lokayukta not only lauded him for that, but even went on to advise the Odisha government to consider reimbursing his medical bills as per regulations.
Based on another finding from the preliminary inquiry report – that Sethi, being involved as a government servant in the affairs of OSCB, was entitled to bonus under Rule 54 (a) of the Staff Service Rules, 1980 – the Lokayukta rejected the second allegation in Pakal’s case against him as being “wholly without any foundation”.
“The Lokayukta order has come as a relief not just for Mr Sethi but for all honest and well-meaning people in the state bureaucracy,” said a seasoned political observer, who did not wish to be named.
“But it must have served as a double whammy for his detractors, who have been busy framing similar allegations against him in the past. It is high time they realise that truth always wins in the end,” he added.
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