Delhi Health Minister writes to LG over alleged Burari's sexual harassment case, demands disciplinary proceedings against Chief Secretary

New Delhi [India], December 27 : Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj has written to the city LG Vinai Kumar Saxena over alleged Burari Hospital's sexual harassment case, demanding disciplinary proceedings against Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar for allegedly 'leaking' the action taken report to the media.
Bharadwaj, in his letter to Saxena, said, "Chief Secretary be directed to desist from attempts to intimidate my office staff and disciplinary proceedings should be initiated against the Chief Secretary and his staff for leaking the sensitive ATR (Official notes) with the Media"
The matter relates to the sexual harassment complaint of a woman, who was working as housekeeping staff on a contract basis at the Burari Government Hospital, against her supervisors. An FIR in the matter was registered on December 19.
On Sunday, Bharadwaj had directed the Chief Secretary to form a committee to probe the allegations and submit an ATR within six hours.
The report stated that an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) formed by the health secretary and Medical Director of Burari Hospital had terminated the contract of the four housekeeping supervisors accused of sexual harassment by women workers and had requested the Delhi Police to inquire into the matter expeditiously.
The Chief Secretary submitted an action-taken report after receiving instructions from Bhardwaj regarding the alleged case.
The Chief Secretary also gave a point-wise response and reports on every issue raised in the note by Saurabh Bhardwaj.
Replying to the observation made by Saurabh Bhardwaj that police are going soft on the accused, the Chief Secretary noted that Delhi Police was already asked to look into the matter and the statements of the complainant have already been recorded by the police.
"The matter is under inquiry, and action will be taken as per law," the Chief Secretary noted.
The Chief Secretary also shared the observations made by the Internal Complaint Committee which was constituted to look into the matter. The Chief Secretary has directed the Health Secretary to act on the recommendations made by the Internal Complaint Committee.
Chief Secretary further informed that the letter to him had already been made public by AAP on social media and by that time, he had not received Bhardwaj's letter.
In his report, Naresh Kumar also proposed the suspension of the minister's personal secretary for allegedly passing official notes by the minister to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
However, Saurabh Bharadwaj, in his letter said that the recommendation of the Chief Secretary against his office staff is simply an act to intimidate and threaten the staff working in his office.
"There have been earlier instances when the Hon'ble Speaker has also raised his concern that officials of Delhi Legislative Assembly were threatened and coerced by the Departments of Vigilance/Services," the Delhi Minister added.
While Bharadwaj, earlier on Monday, said that he had not received the ATR, he later alleged that the report was leaked by the office of the senior bureaucrat to the media. "It is very surprising that the Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar's office leaked the ATR to the media. This raises doubts about the political neutrality of CS Naresh Kumar and strict disciplinary action should be taken against him and officers working with him for leaking the report..." a statement released by Bharadwaj said.