Stop baseless allegations: Chhattisgarh IAS officer Anil Tuteja writes to Raman Singh

RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh IAS officer Anil Tuteja, whose name figures in the PDS scam case, has written to BJP vice-president and former chief minister Raman Singh, to say he is being victimized and harassed on the basis of a false case registered against him. He has asked Singh to "stop making baseless allegations" against him.
The 2003-batch IAS officer's letter to the BJP leader comes a day after Singh named two IAS officers accused in the PDS scam and publicly alleged that they are being "shielded" by the Bhupesh Baghel government.
In his letter, Tuteja, who is now posted as joint secretary and director-industries, quotes from Vidhan Sabha proceedings to point out that the previous Raman Singh government had said in the assembly that the alleged scam in state Nagarik Aapoorti Nigam (NAN) - civil supplies corporation - was "imaginary, politically motivated and based on rumours", and that "there was no such scam".
He pointed out that the then food minister had told the assembly on August 30, 2016, that the state's PDS system is a "model for the country as it is time-tested and efficient". He has said that NAN is a government company and its audited annual reports are tabled in the assembly every year. The balance sheet of 2014-15, which includes his tenure as managing director, shows a profit of Rs 3.18 crore, Tuteja said.
"Your government had rejected the ACB (anti-corruption bureau) contention of causing a loss of Rs 5 crore through large-scale procurement of non-standard rice. On the basis of this clean chit," the IAS officer has said in his letter to the former chief minister.
The balance sheet of 2014-15, which includes his tenure as managing director, shows a profit of Rs 3.18 crore, Tuteja said. "Your government had rejected the ACB (anti-corruption bureau) contention of causing a loss of Rs 5 crore through large-scale procurement of non-standard rice.
On the basis of this clean chit, I had submitted several representations to your government for closing the pending case but no action was taken for unknown reasons," the IAS officer has said in his letter to the former chief minister.
"After completion of polling for the assembly elections on November 20, 2018, the ACB filed a chargesheet against me, just five days before counting of votes on the basis of the same charges, which the then government had described as 'imaginary and politically motivated'," Tuteja says in his letter.
"The ACB has neither made any seizures from my possession nor registered a case against me for disproportionate assets," he points out, adding that Raman Singh, as the then chief minister, "was aware that it was a false case", and the then government had not suspended him or even issued a showcause notice.
"Instead, your government gave me a certificate describing the PDS system during my tenure as excellent," he adds. The IAS officer said he was compelled to write the letter to "put the record straight" as the former CM has been frequently making "baseless" allegations against him in connection with the alleged PDS scam.
He urged the BJP leader not to accuse the present government of trying to protect him, saying that he has already faced a lot of harassment and injustice during the last couple of years.