HYDERABAD: The enquiry into the reasons that led to the issuance of GO 938 has found fault with an additional secretary in the General Administration Department for being negligent in scrutinising the draft. The Law Department too failed to point out the poor drafting.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Secretary J. Harinarayan, who conducted the probe, faulted officials concerned for "clearly violating" business rules, in that the GO was issued in his name without being initialled by him and suggested appropriate action against them.

Acknowledging the concerns raised, he, however, said the GO was not shown to the Secretary concerned, himself or the Chief Minister.

Infirmities

According to an official release, the Chief Secretary pointed out that certain infirmities in the GO were apparent, as it was released without being authenticated by him in the draft and the language was not that regularly used to clearly focus on the instructions to be followed.

`Media watch'

This was evident from the use of term "media watch" in the order which seemed to be a purely "shorthand and clerical term" while no such body had been created by the Government.

The considerable agitation raised about the GO could be attributed to the "ill-advised" use of the term, as there was no doubt that the phrase raised concerns about the intentions of the Government and whether such a phrase implied a negative type of surveillance.

Tracing origins

Tracing origins of the GO to the official laxity in issuing rebuttals and correct perspectives to news items that were defamatory in nature, the report said the Government, in fact, wanted to empower the Commissioner, Information and Public Relations, to file responses on behalf of the departments through an administrative arrangement.

Though Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy approved the proposal after due processing by the assistant secretary, additional secretary, secretary (political) and Chief Secretary, no draft GO incorporating the features was submitted along with it. Subsequently, the assistant secretary prepared a draft that was approved by the additional secretary, which was marked for examination by the Finance and Law Departments.

Search on at Margadarsi

On court order, the Crime Investigation Department (CID) resumed the search at the head office of Margadarsi Financiers here on Sunday. Personnel of CID drove into the premises near Fatehmaidan at 10 a.m. as ordered by the court. The search continued till 8.30 p.m. Gates of the building were closed for outsiders.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail