HYDERABAD: Taking cover behind business rules, officials opened fire on ministers and the CBI at a meeting of the IAS Officers’ Association on Saturday.Spewing venom to their heart’s content, they came out in support of comrades who are being investigated by the CBI and vowed they would not hesitate to move the courts if “greater injustice’’ is done to steel framers.The angry fraternity is also likely to meet Union home minister P Chidambaram in the next few days and have reportedly enlisted the support of the All-India IAS Officers’ Association for the purpose, sources said.In the safety of the frat meeting Saturday, the babus minced no words.“What is the CBI doing about ministers? If anything wrong happens in any department, it is the responsibility of the ministers.Why is the CBI catching the small fish and letting the big fish go?’’ one officer is said to have asked.A day after 70 IAS officers drove to chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy’s residence to complain about being in the glare of scam investigations, the general body of the IAS Officers’ Association met on Saturday.About 150 officers attended.The CBI attracted a lot of the flak.“The CBI is not following established procedures and is tarnishing the image of IAS officers,’’ said Bhale Rao, president of the association.Former chief secretary K Madhava Rao, quoting business rules, went a step ahead: “Does the CBI know the business rules? Anything that happens in a department is the responsibility of the minister.It is the minister who delegates powers to the secretary.And if a minister fails, it is the responsibility of the entire cabinet.’’ In reference to the Obulapuram mining scam, Madhava Rao said that if there was a scam in the mining department, the entire cabinet was responsible.“How can only officers be responsible? Why is the CBI leaving the big fish and going after the small fish? I am not saying officers cannot be arrested, but arrest the ministers too as they are primarily responsible,’’ he said.Referring to the CBI crime manual, Madhava Rao said that the agency’s own rules say that before embarking on an investigation into corruption, fraud or cases of misconduct, the investigators have to acquaint themselves of all the facts and rules.‘’But how much do the CBI and the media know about the business rules and the CBI manual?’’ Madhava Rao went on to say that if the CBI was indeed aware of the rules, it would have started with the big fish and then come to the small.Referring to senior IAS officer L V Subrahmanyam, an accused in the APIIC-Emaar scam case, the former chief secretary said there were other board directors who were involved in the tainted decisions.‘’Why only Subramanyam? There is equal culpability of other directors as well,’’ he said.
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