IAS officer Rohini Sindhuri, who was posted as the Hassan Deputy Commissioner and had a run-in with the local ruling Congress leadership, has been transferred from her current position. This after the Central Administrative Tribunal, which was hearing a dispute between the state government and Rohini on Tuesday, upheld the state government’s transfer order.
Mysuru DC Randeep is set to take over as the Hassan DC.
Rohini was first shunted out in January when she was overseeing preparations for the Mahamastakabhisheka at Shravanabelegola, and had contested her transfer little more than six months of her posting at the Karnataka High Court and later at the CAT. However, the transfer order was withdrawn in March after the Election Commission had stalled it.
Rohini’s new posting will be as the Commissioner of Employment and Training in Bengaluru.
“It is not the end of the road,” she said, when asked about the transfer.
Rohini, since her posting in Hassan, has locked horns with the state Congress leadership, including Hassan District-In-Charge A Manju.
Recently, Rohini, who is also the District Election Officer, had alleged the minister had taken bribes while granting Bagair Hukum land (based on a report by a Returning Officer). The land was granted in contravention of due process after the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) came into effect.
Earlier, she had locked down the minister’s office at the Inspection Bungalow in the district following reports of official work being done after the MCC.
The minister filed a complaint against her, which was been found baseless by the Election Commission after an enquiry, while the investigation against the minister is still on.
This is not the only instance of a politician and a bureaucrat having a run-in.
Dakshina Kannada SP Sudheer Kumar Reddy was transferred just six months into his term in January. Reddy’s predecessor, Bhushan Gulabrao Borase, was also shunted out within six months of his appointment after a public tiff with a minister.
Several other officials including IPS officer D Roopa, C Shikha and Anupama Shenoy have been transferred after disagreements with ministers.
The Opposition BJP and JD(S) have attacked the ruling Congress for not letting “honest officers” work.
In all of these occasions, the government has maintained that the decisions were made on administrative grounds or were purely routine in nature.