1o

ur Manmohan Slngh
rlme MlnlsLer of lndla
new uelhl

uear Slr
1he CovernmenL has asked me Lo deposlL 8s 927 lakhs (ouL of whlch one and a half lakhs perLalns Lo a
compuLer loan) as a condlLlon Lo accepL my reslgnaLlon l have been Lrylng Lo explaln Lo Lhe CovernmenL
for Lhe lasL 3 years LhaL l have noL commlLLed any offence Powever Lhe CovernmenL ls noL wllllng Lo
accepL my explanaLlon
l am Lold LhaL Lhls Llme my flle was also examlned by Lhe rlme MlnlsLer's Cfflce and Lhey have also
held me gullLy l am sLlll unable Lo undersLand whaL my faulL ls for whlch l am belng penallzed lf l could
undersLand whaL wrong l have done l would noL commlL lL agaln ln fuLure
l Look Lwo years of sLudy leave from nov 1 2000 l had lnformed LhaL l would sLudy reasons for
corrupLlon ln Lwo CovernmenL deparLmenLs and suggesL measures Lo remove Lhem l was uepuLy
Commlssloner of lncome 1ax aL LhaL Llme l sLarLed collecLlng publlc grlevances relaLed Lo lncome 1ax
ueparLmenL and uelhl vldyuL 8oard from Lhe publlc eople were belng forced Lo pay brlbes because
Lhelr grlevances were noL belng resolved ln Llme l collecLed 700 grlevances relaLed Lo lncome 1ax
deparLmenL and 2800 grlevances relaLed Lo LlecLrlclLy ueparLmenL We flrsL goL Lhe grlevances of Lhese
3300 people resolved wlLhouL paymenL of brlbes by puLLlng pressure on Lhese deparLmenLs 1hen Lhese
grlevances were sLudled ln greaL deLall and suggesLlons were glven Lo boLh Lhese deparLmenLs Lo
prevenL recurrence of such grlevances ln fuLure
AL LhaL Llme we used Lo slL aL Lhe enLrance of Laxml nagar nand nagarl and nehru lace offlces of uelhl
vldyuL 8oard by puLLlng a Lable and chalr We would appeal Lo Lhe people noL Lo pay brlbes lnslde Lo geL
Lhelr work done Crlevances of several people were goL resolved wlLhouL paymenL of brlbes 1he resulLs
were very encouraglng Larller more Lhan 30 cases used Lo go Lo fff every monLh from each of
Lhese offlces 1hls number came down Lo 10 cases per monLh afLer we sLarLed slLLlng Lhere
l wanL Lo know dld l do anyLhlng wrong whlch l should noL have done durlng Lhe sLudy leave?
l [olned lncome 1ax deparLmenL back from sLudy leave ln november 2002 l was noL glven any posLlng
for almosL a year l kepL geLLlng my salary wlLhouL dolng any work l felL wasLed Slnce l dld noL have any
leaves lefL ln my accounL l applled for Lwo years of Leave WlLhouL ay" whlch was duly sancLloned by
Lhe deparLmenL
uurlng Lhls leave wlLhouL pay l drafLed Lhe 8lghL Lo lnformaLlon AcL along wlLh Shekhar Slngh and
rashanL 8hushan whlch was flnally passed by Lhe arllamenL due Lo Mrs Aruna 8oy's efforLs who was
a member of nAC aL LhaL Llme AfLer Lhe enacLmenL of 81l AcL we sLarLed worklng for lLs
lmplemenLaLlon
Dslng 81l AcL we exposed huge corrupLlon ln uelhl's raLlon supplles As a resulL Lhere were 7 deadly
aLLacks on our volunLeers ln one such aLLack Lhe LhroaL of one of our volunLeers was sllL buL she
survlved 1he deLalls of all Lhese aLLacks and Lhe evldence of corrupLlon exposed ln uelhl's raLlon
supplles was submlLLed before Pon'ble Supreme CourL who ordered seLLlng up of !usLlce Wadhwa
Commlsslon
AL Lhls polnL l sLarLed feellng LhaL l should devoLe Lhe resL of my llfe Lo Lhls cause 1here was no polnL ln
golng back Lo Lhe deparLmenL 1herefore l reslgned from Lhe lncome 1ax deparLmenL ln lebruary 2006
l would agaln llke Lo ask you dld l do anyLhlng wrong by worklng on 8lghL Lo lnformaLlon durlng my
Leave WlLhouL ay?
When l wenL on sLudy leave on 1 november 2000 l slgned a bond saylng LhaL l wlll noL reslgn for aL leasL
Lhree years afLer reLurnlng from sLudy leave 1haL ls Lhe reason l was pald full salary durlng sLudy leave l
kepL my promlse l reslgned Lhree and a half years afLer reLurnlng from sLudy leave
l have consulLed many frlends and legal experLs l have been advlsed LhaL l have noL done anyLhlng
wrong under Lhe law 8uL sLlll Lhe CovernmenL ls asklng me Lo pay back Lhe salary recelved by me durlng
Lhe sLudy leave along wlLh lnLeresL 1he CovernmenL's argumenL ls LhaL l should noL have gone on Leave
WlLhouL ay afLer reLurnlng from sLudy leave when l had drafLed Lhe counLry's 81l AcL As l have already
wrlLLen above l wasLed one year wlLhouL posLlng afLer reLurnlng from sLudy leave uo you Lhlnk lL would
have been beLLer lf l had Laken salary for Lhree and a half years wlLhouL dolng anyLhlng?
l have been awarded Magasaysay Award for Lhe work LhaL l dld durlng my leave lL ls lronlcal LhaL Lhe
same work ls belng held Lo be so wrong by Lhe CovernmenL of lndla LhaL Lhls penalLy has been slapped
on me l would agaln urge you Lo klndly Lell me my faulL
l am encloslng a cheque of 8s 927787 (Ch no 938313 daLed 3112011) 1hls does noL mean LhaL l am
admlLLlng my faulL Slnce l don'L know my faulL Lhere ls no quesLlon of my admlLLlng lL l am deposlLlng
Lhls money under proLesL l would be graLeful lf you could advlse llnance MlnlsLry Lo now accepL my
reslgnaLlon as soon as posslble l reserve Lhe rlghL of golng Lo Lhe CourL for relmbursemenL of Lhls
money afLer Lhe accepLance of my reslgnaLlon
l do noL have any savlngs l recelved more Lhan 8s 30 lakhs by way of several awards ln Lhe lasL few
years l have donaLed all Lhls money Lo Lhe movemenL l [usL have a few Lhousand rupees ln my bank
accounL ln order Lo pay Lhls money Lo Lhe CovernmenL l have Laken loans from my frlends l recelved
phone calls from hundreds of people from across Lhe counLry saylng LhaL Lhey would llke Lo pay up my
dues" l am graLeful and am Lhankful Lo all such people 8uL lf l accepLed Lhelr money l would be
accused of havlng mlsused Lhe movemenL for my personal galns 1herefore l have Laken loan only from
Lhose frlends whom l have known for several years
8lghL now Lhe enLlre CovernmenL machlnery ls belng mlsused Lo LargeL 1eam Anna WlLh folded hands
l would slncerely urge you noL Lo vlcLlmlze my frlends who have loaned Lhls money Lo me

ours' Slncerely

(Arvlnd ke[rlwal)