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MPs urge PM to revoke
Thomas Mathew's suspension

In a letter to Vajpayee, the MPs said the suspension on the basis of alleged but unsubstantiated misconduct had caused irreparable damage to the officer and his family. It was therefore requested that his suspension be revoked immediately, the MPs said.

Those who signed the letter are former Union home minister S B Chavan, Justice Ranganath Mishra, A R Kidwai, Ragbir Singh, Jaswant Singh Yadav, Yashwant Singh Bishnoi, Chunabahi Thakur, R R Gamit, Krishnan Raju, Shivaji Mane, Ram Narain Mishra, Anant Geete, K S Sangwan and Dhammavirigo.

Former prime ministers Chandra Shekhar and V P Singh had written to the government on this issue, said People For Truth, a non-governmental organisation that released the MPs' letter to the prime minister in New Delhi on Saturday.

The MPs said, ''We are surprised at the peremptory suspension of Thomas Mathew, a director in the Ministry of Home Affairs, on the basis of alleged links with the Tehelka expose. We understand that Mathew's name was dragged into the controversy through a press report in the Pioneer newspaper in its edition dated March 22, 2001. Although Mathew was given a memo on March 23, seeking clarifications on the press report within seven days, he was summarily placed under suspension on March 26, without waiting for his reply and without giving any reason or chargesheet.''

The fact that Mathew was denied an opportunity to be heard, and that he was not even given the list of papers removed from his office room on March 22, inevitably raises questions of probity and mala fides in the motives and intentions of the authorities, the MPs said.

''The press reports in the Pioneer, which quoted official sources, make it obvious that there has been a systematic effort to malign this officer through selective leaks and handouts linking him with the alleged leak of certain official documents relating to the North East Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs. It was also hinted that Mathew was shifted from the North East Division to the Justice Nanavati Commission after the alleged leak. It is understood that Mathew never worked in the North East Division and that he was given additional charge of secretary to the Nanavati Commission in April, 2000, in addition to his duties of director (O&M) in the ministry,'' the leaders said.

UNI

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