Dear Chief Minister,
Just when we thought that nothing could numb our consciences and brains further, the handling of the Hathras incident by the Uttar Pradesh administration has shown that, as a nation, we are plumbing the depths of depravity and callousness in governance. A young Dalit woman is brutally violated. Almost three weeks after the incident, the police are yet to confirm the crime of rape and are still spinning theories around it, although the video of what amounts to her dying declaration seems to confirm it. Her neck was lacerated, her spinal column was broken and there were cuts on her tongue. Instead of promptly admitting her to a hospital with advanced facilities for dealing with trauma, she was allowed to languish in the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital, Aligarh. She was moved to Delhi only two weeks after the incident, that too on the request of her family, a case of too little, too late. What followed was an even greater travesty of justice and basic human values. After her death, her body was despatched post haste to her village and cremated in the dead of night by policemen. Being a person attached to a persuasion of the Hindu faith, you would be well aware that Hindu customs require the nearest kin to offer agni to the mortal remains. Both the sacred traditions and the family’s pleas that they would perform the cremation in the morning were ignored. To add insult to injury, a policeman is reported to have told the bereaved family that they were also to blame and the District Magistrate has apparently been captured on video making veiled threats to the family that they should be careful about their statements to the media, because the officials would be around even after the media departs.
It is being touted in the media that the Prime Minister has asked you to “fast track” this case to secure an early conviction. With our experience as erstwhile administrators in different departments of the central and state governments, our group of former civil servants had, in the past, highlighted the brazen violations of the rule of law in the Unnao rape case and in the murder of the police inspector in Bulandshahr. We note with concern that, even after two years, the ghastly murder of a brother officer has not stirred the UP police and your administration to bring the case to closure. In these circumstances, we may be forgiven for viewing UP’s fast track justice system with scepticism.
We are, in fact, concerned with the novel interpretations of fast track justice in the state governed by you. In recent days, we have seen two instances where alleged criminals have met their deaths while being transported by the police to Uttar Pradesh. Even if they were guilty of the offences listed against them, they were entitled, under the Constitution of India and the laws of the land, to a fair trial. Denial of this right amounts to violation of Article 21 of the Constitution. Your administration has also initiated draconian measures against anti-CAA protesters, including detention and levy of punitive fines. You seem to believe in combining the roles of judge and executioner, as evidenced in a recent interview where you advocated the philosophy of “an eye for an eye.” Equally reprehensible, some months ago, you ordered the withdrawal of cases registered against you in the past. Politicians never tire of saying “the law must take its course”. Why depart from this article of faith for your party and government? .
The Hathras district administration feels it can flout human sentiments at will, apart from rapidly disposing of evidence in cases of offences against the body. All those complicit in these violations of law and tradition must be punished. While it is in the order of things that you have suspended the Superintendent of Police, there are adequate grounds for immediate suspension of the District Magistrate as well; we insist that departmental proceedings against them be started at the earliest. Action under Section 4 of The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 must be initiated against all those officers and men of the district police and the executive magistracy who have wilfully neglected the duties enjoined on them under this Act. We also note with regret that the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police have failed abjectly in exercising control over a highly compromised administration. We urge them to live up to the proud traditions of the Indian Administrative Service and the Indian Police Service, in whom the people of this country still repose faith. The meek surrender of the Uttar Pradesh bureaucracy and police, especially its All-India Services, to political diktat has shamed all of us who deem it a badge of honour to belong to these services.
But, ultimately, all responsibility rests with you as the Chief Executive of the state. Your actions over the past three and a half years give us little reason to believe that your actions are motivated by respect for the rule of law. We urge you to conduct your administration in accordance with the letter and spirit of the Constitution of India, to which you have sworn allegiance when you assumed office. In the present instance, we hope you will deliver justice to the victim and her family, without fear or favour, despite the efforts of specific upper caste groups to interfere with the course of justice. We also hope you will ensure that officers of your administration implement the rule of law in a just and fair manner.
SATYAMEVA JAYATE
Yours sincerely,
(92 signatories, as below)
| 1. | Anita Agnihotri | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Department of Social Justice Empowerment, GoI |
| 2. | Salahuddin Ahmad | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Rajasthan |
| 3. | Shafi Alam | IPS (Retd.) | Former Director General, National Crime Records Bureau, GoI |
| 4. | S.P. Ambrose | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Secretary, Ministry of Shipping & Transport, GoI |
| 5. | Anand Arni | R&AW (Retd.) | Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI |
| 6. | N. Bala Baskar | IAS (Retd.) | Former Principal Adviser (Finance), Ministry of External Affairs, GoI |
| 7. | Vappala Balachandran | IPS (Retd.) | Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI |
| 8. | Gopalan Balagopal | IAS (Retd.) | Former Special Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal |
| 9. | Chandrashekhar Balakrishnan | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Coal, GoI |
| 10. | Rana Banerji | IAS (Retd.) | Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat (R&AW), GoI |
| 11. | Sharad Behar | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh |
| 12. | Madhu Bhaduri | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Portugal |
| 13. | Meeran C Borwankar | IPS (Retd.) | Former Commissioner of Police, Pune, Govt. of Maharashtra |
| 14. | Ravi Budhiraja | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chairman, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, GoI |
| 15. | Sundar Burra | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra |
| 16. | R. Chandramohan | IAS (Retd.) | Former Principal Secretary, Transport and Urban Development, Govt. of NCT of Delhi |
| 17. | Rachel Chatterjee | IAS (Retd.) | Former Special Chief Secretary, Agriculture, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh |
| 18. | Kalyani Chaudhuri | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal |
| 19. | Anna Dani | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra |
| 20. | Vibha Puri Das | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, GoI |
| 21. | P.R. Dasgupta | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chairman, Food Corporation of India, GoI |
| 22. | Nitin Desai | IES (Retd.) | Former Secretary and Chief Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance, GoI |
| 23. | Keshav Desiraju | IAS (Retd.) | Former Health Secretary, GoI |
| 24. | M.G. Devasahayam | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Govt. of Haryana |
| 25. | Sushil Dubey | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Sweden |
| 26. | A.S. Dulat | IPS (Retd.) | Former OSD on Kashmir, Prime Minister’s Office, GoI |
| 27. | K.P. Fabian | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Italy |
| 28. | Gourisankar Ghosh | IAS (Retd.) | Former Mission Director, National Drinking Water Mission, GoI |
| 29. | Suresh K. Goel | IFS (Retd.) | Former Director General, Indian Council of Cultural Relations, GoI |
| 30. | S.K. Guha | IAS (Retd.) | Former Joint Secretary, Department of Women & Child Development, GoI |
| 31. | H.S. Gujral | IFoS (Retd.) | Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Govt. of Punjab |
| 32. | Meena Gupta | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forests, GoI |
| 33. | Ravi Vira Gupta | IAS (Retd.) | Former Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India |
| 34. | Wajahat Habibullah | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, GoI and Chief Information Commissioner |
| 35. | Deepa Hari | IRS (Resigned) | |
| 36. | Sajjad Hassan | IAS (Retd.) | Former Commissioner (Planning), Govt. of Manipur |
| 37. | Kamal Jaswal | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Department of Information Technology, GoI |
| 38. | Najeeb Jung | IAS (Retd.) | Former Lieutenant Governor, Delhi |
| 39. | Rahul Khullar | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chairman, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India |
| 40. | K. John Koshy | IAS (Retd.) | Former State Chief Information Commissioner, West Bengal |
| 41. | Ajai Kumar | IFoS(Retd.) | Former Director, Ministry of Agriculture, GoI |
| 42. | Brijesh Kumar | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Department of Information Technology, GoI |
| 43. | Aloke B. Lal | IPS (Retd.) | Former Director General (Prosecution), Govt. of Uttarakhand |
| 44. | Subodh Lal | IPoS (Resigned) | Former Deputy Director General, Ministry of Communications, GoI |
| 45. | Harsh Mander | IAS (Retd.) | Govt. of Madhya Pradesh |
| 46. | Amitabh Mathur | IPS (Retd.) | Former Director, Aviation Research Centre and Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI |
| 47. | Aditi Mehta | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Rajasthan |
| 48. | Shivshankar Menon | IFS (Retd.) | Former Foreign Secretary and Former National Security Adviser |
| 49. | Sonalini Mirchandani | IFS (Resigned) | GoI |
| 50. | Sunil Mitra | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Ministry of Finance, GoI |
| 51. | Noor Mohammad | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, National Disaster Management Authority, Govt. of India |
| 52. | Avinash Mohananey | IPS (Retd.) | Former Director General of Police, Govt. of Sikkim |
| 53. | Jugal Mohapatra | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Department of Rural Development, GoI |
| 54. | Deb Mukharji | IFS (Retd.) | Former High Commissioner to Bangladesh and former Ambassador to Nepal |
| 55. | Shiv Shankar Mukherjee | IFS (Retd.) | Former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom |
| 56. | Pranab S. Mukhopadhyay | IAS (Retd.) | Former Director, Institute of Port Management, GoI |
| 57. | P.G.J. Nampoothiri | IPS (Retd.) | Former Director General of Police, Govt. of Gujarat |
| 58. | Amitabha Pande | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Inter-State Council, GoI |
| 59. | Mira Pande | IAS (Retd.) | Former State Election Commissioner, West Bengal |
| 60. | Niranjan Pant | IA&AS (Retd.) | Former Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General, GoI |
| 61. | Alok Perti | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Ministry of Coal, GoI |
| 62. | R. Poornalingam | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, GoI |
| 63. | R.M. Premkumar | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra |
| 64. | N.K. Raghupathy | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chairman, Staff Selection Commission, GoI |
| 65. | V.P. Raja | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chairman, Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission |
| 66. | C. Babu Rajeev | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, GoI |
| 67. | K. Sujatha Rao | IAS (Retd.) | Former Health Secretary, GoI |
| 68. | Satwant Reddy | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Chemicals and Petrochemicals, GoI |
| 69. | Vijaya Latha Reddy | IFS (Retd.) | Former Deputy National Security Adviser, GoI |
| 70. | Julio Ribeiro | IPS (Retd.) | Former Adviser to Governor of Punjab & former Ambassador to Romania |
| 71. | Manabendra N. Roy | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal |
| 72. | A.K. Samanta | IPS (Retd.) | Former Director General of Police (Intelligence), Govt. of West Bengal |
| 73. | Deepak Sanan | IAS (Retd.) | Former Principal Adviser (AR) to Chief Minister, Govt. of Himachal Pradesh |
| 74. | G. Sankaran | IC&CES (Retd.) | Former President, Customs, Excise and Gold (Control) Appellate Tribunal |
| 75. | S. Satyabhama | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chairperson, National Seeds Corporation, GoI |
| 76. | N.C. Saxena | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Planning Commission, GoI |
| 77. | Ardhendu Sen | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal |
| 78. | Abhijit Sengupta | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Ministry of Culture, GoI |
| 79. | Aftab Seth | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Japan |
| 80. | Ashok Kumar Sharma | IFoS (Retd.) | Former MD, State Forest Development Corporation, Govt. of Gujarat |
| 81. | Ashok Kumar Sharma | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Finland and Estonia |
| 82. | Navrekha Sharma | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Indonesia |
| 83. | Sujatha Singh | IFS (Retd.) | Former Foreign Secretary, GoI |
| 84. | Tirlochan Singh | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, National Commission for Minorities, GoI |
| 85. | Jawhar Sircar | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Ministry of Culture, GoI, & former CEO, Prasar Bharati |
| 86. | Narendra Sisodia | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Ministry of Finance, GoI |
| 87. | Thanksy Thekkekera | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Minorities Development, Govt. of Maharashtra |
| 88. | P.S.S. Thomas | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary General, National Human Rights Commission |
| 89. | Geetha Thoopal | IRAS (Retd.) | Former General Manager, Metro Railway, Kolkata |
| 90. | Hindal Tyabji | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chief Secretary rank, Govt. of Jammu & Kashmir |
| 91. | Ashok Vajpeyi | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chairman, Lalit Kala Akademi |
| 92. | Ramani Venkatesan | IAS (Retd.) | Former Director General, YASHADA, Govt. of Maharashtra |
