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Special `requests', crisis blows over
By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, FEB. 20. A clash between the Executive and the Legislature has been avoided with the Secretary-General Administration Department (GAD), C.Targey, expressing ``regrets'' in reply to a breach of privilege notice given by the Deputy Speaker, Kiran Chaudhary, alleging that the official had shown disrespect to her while on a visit to Players Building on January 15.

Interestingly, while Mr. Targey sought to convey his regret to the Secretary, Vidhan Sabha, the Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, regretted the incident in a separate letter to the Speaker, Chaudhary Prem Singh. The issue had threatened to turn into a direct confrontation between the bureaucracy and the elected representatives with both sides sticking to their stands. But the Deputy Speaker had the last laugh after not only Mr. Targey but Ms. Dikshit also expressed regrets over the unfortunate incident.

It was a missive from the Speaker which set matters right. Chaudhary Prem Singh, in his latest letter to the Chief Minister, warned that he would be forced to refer the matter to the Privileges Committee if no reply was forthcoming. Mr. Targey had, during the past month, maintained that he had done no wrong and was only implementing the guidelines issued after the approval of the Chief Minister.

In her reply, the Chief Minister said the official had regretted the incident and the matter should not be pressed further. Further, Ms. Dikshit said she had ``asked the officer to be polite and courteous to VIPs and elected representatives'' in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Union Government. In his reply, Mr. Targey said: ``It was never my intention to show any disrespect or contempt to the Deputy Speaker while on her visit to the Indraprastha Sachivalaya on January 15. There was no intention to disregard the august office of the Deputy Speaker.''

Conceding a folly on his part, Mr. Targey went on to state: ``I may have forgotten to offer her a seat. If she has felt inconvenienced and hurt due to inadvertence on my part, the same is sincerely regretted. Kindly convey to the Speaker that all the decorum and official courtesy would be extended to the elected representatives by my Department in performing of officials duties.'' It is believed the matter was resolved after the intervention of the Chief Minister and the Chief Secretary, Shailja Chandra. The Speaker is understood to have made it clear that nothing short of regret on part of the officer would work as the agitated MLAs would raise the issue inside the Assembly when the Budget session commences and it would be difficult to turn down their request for summoning the officer.

When contacted, Ms. Kiran Chaudhary, said she had been informed about the regret letter from the Chief Minister and Mr. C. Targey. She said she would not withdraw the Breach of Privilege notice, but would treat the matter as closed. Terming the whole incident as unfortunate, the Deputy Speaker said that she had no intention of creating a wedge between the executive and the legislature but this was a matter of disrespect shown to the Deputy Speaker by an official, who despite being told about her identity, continued to be rude. ``He should have known the protocol, sitting at such an important position. This would have saved the Government much embarrassment.''

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