GUJARAT’S IAS PURGE WARNING SHOT FOR BABUS
For a service that has perfected the art of surviving governments, political regimes, and the occasional scandal, compulsory retirement is about as welcome as an adverse ACR. So, Gujarat’s decision to retire two IAS officers early is worth noticing.
Gaurav Dahiya, a 2010-batch officer, and K. Rajesh, a 2011-batch officer, have been compulsorily retired with effect from October 1 following a review of their service records. Rajesh had been under suspension since 2022 amid CBI and ED proceedings relating to alleged bribery and misuse of office. Dahiya had also faced disciplinary proceedings and suspension. The law has never been short of provisions to move out officers who are considered unsuitable for continued service. What has usually been in short supply is the appetite to use them.
The numbers bear this out. Between July 2014 and January 2020, premature-retirement provisions were invoked against 163 Group A officers, including All India Services officers. Another 122 officers were retired under similar provisions between 2020 and 2023. These are not IAS-only figures, but they illustrate the point: thousands may be reviewed; very few are actually shown the door.
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That makes Gujarat’s move interesting. It reinforces a rather obvious principle that security of tenure is not immunity from consequences. But there is a catch. Premature retirement cannot become a convenient substitute for disciplinary proceedings, nor can it acquire the reputation of being a handy administrative broom. The process has to be fair, documented and defensible. Otherwise, “Operation Gangajal” could end up being remembered less as a clean-up than as another weary slogan.
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