PCA recommends disciplinary action against policemen

Lethargy and delay in case of forgery against PGI staffer

Chandigarh, January 8
The Police Complaints Authority (PCA) has recommended disciplinary action against police officers of the Sector-11 police station for their lethargy and delay as they sat on a complaint of forgery against a PGI employee for two years.

In its order, the PCA stated, “In view of the lethargic approach and inordinate delay in investigation, the SSP is requested to take disciplinary action against the police officers of the Sector-11 police station responsible for lethargy and delay.”

“It is a serious matter concerning a premier medical institute. The complaint deserves urgent, serious and fair investigation. Lots of evidence appeared to show, prima facie, that an order was never issued by the department, but was fraudulently created,” said Justice NK Aggarwal, Chairman, PCA.

As per the complaint filed by Surinder Chadha, his niece Priyanka allegedly committed forgery as PGI employee while applying for leave several times. The complaint stated that she applied for medical leave in January, 2009, but went to Canada without informing the employer.

As per the allegations, Priyanka allegedly forged an office order dated March 23, 2009, purported to have been issued by the PGI director, granting her earned leave for 30 days from April 24, 2009, to enable her to appear in the CAMRI examination in Canada.

The office order was shown to have been endorsed to Priyanka by the head of her department, the accounts branch. It was alleged that the document was fraudulent.

A police report was lodged by the chief security officer with the PGI. The complainant alleged that the police had not made any progress even after a report regarding forged signatures of the senior administrative officer with PGI was forwarded to the department of radio-diagnosis on October 21, 2009.

The PCA observed that the senior administrative officer with the PGI had written to the Under-Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, New Delhi, stating that Priyanka had applied for visa to Canada on a forged document, which was never issued by the office.