OPEN LETTER TO THE HON’BLE PRESIDENT OF INDIA – CONCERNS ABOUT THE AUTONOMY OF THE CAG

4 November 2023

Honourable Rashtrapatiji,

We are a group of former civil servants of the All India and Central Services who have worked in the Central and State Governments during our careers. As a group, we have no affiliation with any political party but believe in impartiality, neutrality and commitment to the Constitution of India.

Any vibrant democracy requires an effective system of checks and balances to prevent the arbitrary use of power by an elected government and such checks and balances can be exercised only through independent institutions, which are able to withstand pressure from the executive or any vested interest. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) is one such institution which has been exercising oversight over government activities and expenditure for more than 150 years now. It has, by and large, an untainted record of objectivity, political neutrality and a robustness of its internal control system that ensures complete accuracy of the facts and figures reported.

The Constitution of India requires the CAG to affirm that s/he will duly and faithfully perform her/his duties “without fear or favour, affection or ill-will”, again confirming her/his complete independence from the executive. The CAG works quietly, away from the glare of publicity, submitting its report to the President, who then causes the reports to be laid before Parliament. The reports are thereafter examined by the Public Accounts Committee, and are available in the public domain, ensuring public accountability of the executive. Without an effective and independent CAG, proper financial management of public funds by the government will be rendered ineffective.

Unfortunately, in recent times, these high standards seem to be waning.  The institution of the CAG does not seem to be discharging its duties with the speed that it is expected to, or that it had in the past. The number of audit reports relating to the union government’s functioning which have been submitted before Parliament has shown a declining trend as may be seen below:

Year 2015: 54 reports; 2016: 43 reports; 2017: 50 reports; 2018: 19 reports; 2019: 18 reports; 2020: 17 reports; 2021: 28 reports; 2022: 30 reports; 2023:16 reports.

This means either that the working of the CAG has slowed down, or that the organisation, despite detection of flaws in expenditure by the government, is reluctant to present this to Parliament and make the information public.

Ever since 2012 when the CAG presented its reports to Parliament on the loss reportedly suffered by the nation due to the  wrong allocation of coal mines by the government, and alleged errors in the 2G spectrum auction, there has been considerable interest among citizens and political leaders to find out from the CAG’s reports whether or not the government has spent the taxpayers money properly. The low number of audit reports and the lack of discussion in Parliament on the reports, denies them that right.

In 2023, 16 reports of the CAG relating to the union government’s working were placed in Parliament. These reports highlighted several instances of wrong or excess expenditure by the government and government bodies. Among the most egregious of these cases are the significant cost over-runs on road projects of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and other related bodies, and the false records of expenditure under the central government’s flagship health scheme, Ayushman Bharat.

On the road and highway projects undertaken by the NHAI, the CAG has found several irregularities in the award and implementation of the projects, such as the successful bidder not fulfilling tender conditions, or bidders selected on the basis of fake documents, or award of works without availability of detailed project reports, or award of works based on faulty project reports, etc. For instance, in the NHAI’s project of the Dwarka Expressway, under the Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase 1, the CAG observed that the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs had approved the project for an amount of Rs 18.20 crore per km whereas the actual cost incurred was a whopping 250.77 crore per km, exceeding the allocated cost about 14 times! In many other cases, too, significant changes were made to projects which included changing the specifications, resulting in the construction cost increasing sharply.  Also, the detailed reports prepared by consultants were not appraised with due diligence by the competent authority before approval of projects. Consequently, there are “instances of different specifications adopted by contractors or concessionaires at the time of execution of projects than what were prescribed by detailed project report consultants. . . . .”

Several serious flaws were similarly found with the expenditure relating to the government’s Ayushman Bharat scheme or Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), meant to give health cover to over 10 crore poor families. The CAG mentioned that in the case of 88760 patients who had died during treatment, 214923 claims were made at a later date for fresh treatment of these very same patients. Despite the CAG pointing this out, and the National Implementation Agency that implements the programme undertaking that the loophole that existed would be plugged, fresh claims of treatment continued to be made for patients earlier shown as dead.  The CAG has also identified 4,761 registrations that were linked to only seven Aadhar numbers, indicating potential irregularities. Again, fraud is probable in the fact that hospitals had registered 7.5 lakh patients under the same dummy phone number, viz. 9999999999, and another 1.4 lakh patients under the number 8888888888

What is even more worrying is the fact that, shortly after these reports became public, the CAG transferred the officers responsible for these reports to other positions, giving rise to the suspicion that they had been punished for being honest and upright and exposing the misdeeds of government agencies. These officers have been posted to unimportant positions such as Legal Officer (though the person concerned has no legal background) or to the Rashtra Bhasha cell, etc. and in some cases sent far away from their present place of posting. What is even more serious is that field audit has been suspended subsequent to the media attention. Stoppage of field audit work means that the CAG has become dysfunctional. It is a serious constitutional misconduct.

Another worrying trend has been statements made by ministers and public functionaries to the media against the CAG reports. The CAG does not and cannot take part in such public discussions and this undermines the authority and credibility of the CAG’s work. While the ministries and departments of the government have tried to provide explanations for these issues, it is interesting to find that the ruling party MPs have jumped into the fray to defend the government. One minister has gone public against the CAG report on the Dwarka Expressway, pointing out apparent errors in the CAG report; in another instance, the Ministry of Finance has rebutted a news report published in The Telegraph dated October 17 2023 on CAG’s observations on government accounts, giving elaborate point-wise replies to each observation of the CAG. Since the CAG cannot enter into a public debate on the statements made by Ministers and officials, the discussions become one-sided. The right approach would have been to have responded to the CAG’s observation before the reports were finalised, at the time that the CAG’s observations are forwarded to the concerned authorities for their response.  This ensures the objectivity of the CAG’s reports and protects the constitutional institution from avoidable, untrue and uninformed media controversy, resulting in an erosion of the credibility of the institution,

The trend that we are currently witnessing is indeed disturbing. The CAG has, with a few exceptions, almost always worked with absolute transparency and fairness, and this seems to be in jeopardy now. We, therefore write to request you to exercise the authority of your office to ensure that the objectivity and independence of the institution remains uncompromised and that the established processes and controls are not tampered with. Such tampering will greatly damage our democracy.

SATYAMEVA JAYATE

Yours faithfully,

Constitutional Conduct Group (86 signatories, as below)

 

1. Anita Agnihotri IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Department of Social Justice Empowerment, GoI
2. S.P. Ambrose IAS (Retd.) Former Additional Secretary, Ministry of Shipping & Transport, GoI
3. Anand Arni RAS (Retd.) Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI
4. J.L. Bajaj IAS (Retd.) Former Chairman, Administrative Reforms and Decentralisation Commission, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh
5. G. Balachandhran IAS (Retd.) Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal
6. Vappala Balachandran IPS (Retd.) Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI
7. Gopalan Balagopal IAS (Retd.) Former Special Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal
8. Chandrashekar Balakrishnan IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Coal, GoI
9. Sushant Baliga Engineering Services (Retd.) Former Additional Director General, Central PWD, GoI
10. Rana Banerji RAS (Retd.) Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI
11. Sharad Behar IAS (Retd.) Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh
12. Aurobindo Behera IAS (Retd.) Former Member, Board of Revenue, Govt. of Odisha
13. Madhu Bhaduri IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Portugal
14. K.V. Bhagirath IFS (Retd.) Former Secretary General, Indian Ocean Rim Association, Mauritius
15. Nutan Guha Biswas IAS (Retd.) Former Member, Police Complaints Authority, Govt. of NCT of Delhi
16. Meeran C Borwankar IPS (Retd.) Former DGP, Bureau of Police Research and Development, GoI
17. Ravi Budhiraja IAS (Retd.) Former Chairman, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, GoI
18. Sundar Burra IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra
19. R. Chandramohan IAS (Retd.) Former Principal Secretary, Transport and Urban Development, Govt. of NCT of Delhi
20. Rachel Chatterjee IAS (Retd.) Former Special Chief Secretary, Agriculture, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh
21. Kalyani Chaudhuri IAS (Retd.) Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal
22. Gurjit Singh Cheema IAS (Retd.) Former Financial Commissioner (Revenue), Govt. of Punjab
23. F.T.R. Colaso IPS (Retd.) Former Director General of Police, Govt. of Karnataka & former Director General of Police, Govt. of Jammu & Kashmir
24. Anna Dani IAS (Retd.) Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra
25. Vibha Puri Das IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, GoI
26. P.R. Dasgupta IAS (Retd.) Former Chairman, Food Corporation of India, GoI
27. Pradeep K. Deb IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Deptt. Of Sports, GoI
28. M.G. Devasahayam IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Govt. of Haryana
29. A.S. Dulat IPS (Retd.) Former OSD on Kashmir, Prime Minister’s Office, GoI
30. K.P. Fabian IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Italy
31. Suresh K. Goel IFS (Retd.) Former Director General, Indian Council of Cultural Relations, GoI
32. H.S. Gujral IFoS (Retd.) Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Govt. of Punjab
33. Meena Gupta IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forests, GoI
34. Wajahat Habibullah IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, GoI and former Chief Information Commissioner
35. Naini Jeyaseelan IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Inter-State Council, GoI
36. Vinod C. Khanna IFS (Retd.) Former Additional Secretary, MEA, GoI
37. Gita Kripalani IRS (Retd.) Former Member, Settlement Commission, GoI
38. Sudhir Kumar IAS (Retd.) Former Member, Central Administrative Tribunal
39. Subodh Lal IPoS (Resigned) Former Deputy Director General, Ministry of Communications, GoI
40. P.M.S. Malik IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Myanmar & Special Secretary, MEA, GoI
41. Harsh Mander IAS (Retd.) Govt. of Madhya Pradesh
42. Aditi Mehta IAS (Retd.) Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Rajasthan
43. Malay Mishra IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Hungary
44. Satya Narayan Mohanty IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary General, National Human Rights Commission
45. Deb Mukharji IFS (Retd.) Former High Commissioner to Bangladesh and former Ambassador to Nepal
46. Shiv Shankar Mukherjee IFS (Retd.) Former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
47. Gautam Mukhopadhaya IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Myanmar
48. Nagalsamy IA&AS (Retd.) Former Principal Accountant General, Tamil Nadu & Kerala
49. Sobha Nambisan IAS (Retd.) Former Principal Secretary (Planning), Govt. of Karnataka
50. Surendra Nath IAS (Retd.) Former Member, Finance Commission, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh
51. P. Joy Oommen IAS (Retd.) Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Chhattisgarh
52. Amitabha Pande IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Inter-State Council, GoI
53. Mira Pande IAS (Retd.) Former State Election Commissioner, West Bengal
54. Maxwell Pereira IPS (Retd.) Former Joint Commissioner of Police, Delhi
55. Alok Perti IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Ministry of Coal, GoI
56. R.M. Premkumar IAS (Retd.) Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra
57. N.K. Raghupathy IAS (Retd.) Former Chairman, Staff Selection Commission, GoI
58. V.P. Raja IAS (Retd.) Former Chairman, Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission
59. K. Sujatha Rao IAS (Retd.) Former Health Secretary, GoI
60. M.Y. Rao IAS (Retd.)  
61. Satwant Reddy IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Chemicals and Petrochemicals, GoI
62. Vijaya Latha Reddy IFS (Retd.) Former Deputy National Security Adviser, GoI
63. Julio Ribeiro IPS (Retd.) Former Adviser to Governor of Punjab & former Ambassador to Romania
64. Aruna Roy IAS (Resigned)  
65. Manabendra N. Roy IAS (Retd.) Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal
66. A.K. Samanta IPS (Retd.) Former Director General of Police (Intelligence), Govt. of West Bengal
67. Deepak Sanan IAS (Retd.) Former Principal Adviser (AR) to Chief Minister, Govt. of Himachal Pradesh
68. S. Satyabhama IAS (Retd.) Former Chairperson, National Seeds Corporation, GoI
69. N.C. Saxena IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Planning Commission, GoI
70. Ardhendu Sen IAS (Retd.) Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal
71. Abhijit Sengupta IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, Ministry of Culture, GoI
72. Aftab Seth IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Japan
73. Ashok Kumar Sharma IFoS (Retd.) Former MD, State Forest Development Corporation, Govt. of Gujarat
74. Ashok Kumar Sharma IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Finland and Estonia
75. Navrekha Sharma IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Indonesia
76. Raju Sharma IAS (Retd.) Former Member, Board of Revenue, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh
77. Avay Shukla IAS (Retd.) Former Additional Chief Secretary (Forests & Technical Education), Govt. of Himachal Pradesh
78. Sujatha Singh IFS (Retd.) Former Foreign Secretary, GoI
79. Tara Ajai Singh IAS (Retd.) Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Karnataka
80. Tirlochan Singh IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary, National Commission for Minorities, GoI
81. Anup Thakur IAS (Retd.) Former Member, National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission
82. P.S.S. Thomas IAS (Retd.) Former Secretary General, National Human Rights Commission
83. Geetha Thoopal IRAS (Retd.) Former General Manager, Metro Railway, Kolkata
84. Ashok Vajpeyi IAS (Retd.) Former Chairman, Lalit Kala Akademi
85. Ramani Venkatesan IAS (Retd.) Former Director General, YASHADA, Govt. of Maharashtra
86. Rudi Warjri IFS (Retd.) Former Ambassador to Colombia, Ecuador and Costa Rica

 

 

16 thoughts on “OPEN LETTER TO THE HON’BLE PRESIDENT OF INDIA – CONCERNS ABOUT THE AUTONOMY OF THE CAG

  1. Pingback: CAG’s ‘high standards’ waning in recent times, says group of ex-bureaucrats - Azad Kashmir

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  4. Gunavardhanan ias rtd

    The absence of references to the conduct of various stste govtd viz-a-viz arms of CAG is glaring and making the letter an incomplete exercise.

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  5. Gunavardhanan ias rtd

    The absence of references to the conduct of various stste govtd viz-a-viz arms of CAG is glaring and making the letter an incomplete exercise.

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  6. Jagmohan Khera

    Your Complaint No.:50000047842311169 Dated 17/11/2023 has been submitted to Higher office for approval. Regards, Satya Prakash, PS:LAJPAT NAGAR

    Dear Sir, Enquiry Officer has been assigned to your Complaint No.:50000047842311169 Dated 19/06/23 Following are Details of EO: NAME:Ranvir SINGH Rank: PIS No.:28060318 Mobile No.: Regards, CCTNS Admin

    Dear Sir, Enquiry Report has been submitted to concerned Office against your Complaint No.:50000047842311169 Dated 19/06/23 Regards, EO,Mobile No.:9354753169

    Hon’ble, CJI, Chandrachudji,

    Above fraud (without taking any action) to make me fool by DM/sdm/sub registrar/DCP/ACO/SHO/IO, SED, Delhi Govt./Delhi Police, under bribe or for personal gain interests to shield the SKIN of corrupt officers of Delhi Govt/Delhi police/L&DO/Gopal Krishan khera, corrupt staff DC office, Delhi Govt/Vijay Kalea pps min of Defence/Gulshan kalra/chander prakash khera his wife sharda khera their sons keshav/vukul khera and others is still continue in back from 2013.

    In result on 14/10/2016 at the age of about 60 (without any reason) my family was dispossessed from E-221, thrown on road by police/courts, by ignoring the existences of forged ration card no.207502/forge will dt.11/3/99/forged conveyance deed dated 27/4/2000, through which Refugee property No.E-207, 221, (200) lajpat nagar 1, ND 24, has been grabbed by playing fraud by named by hiding the existence of 99 years lease, Regd on 10/6/69, to manipulate to show one legal heir of property Regd on 4/9/1982.

    That in 2020, in response to president letter, sub registrar, Delhi Govt has confirmed that will having registration no.1491 was not executed by surrender Nath khera (my father) and registration partular of property mention on 1st page of will does not match with record.

    Sufficient to allege:

    a) That my father was not expired naturally but deliberately been killed by named so that before his death truth of committed fraud may not come out.

    b) That above property has been grabbed by named by playing fraud.

    Hence in the interest of justice, under intimation direct the CP, Delhi police to register FIR and send all concerned in jail as per CRPC whosoever is responsible to spoiled/destroyed our family life of over 22 years, if your intentions are clear to do so.

    With regards

    Jagmohan khera, s/o late sh.sn and family legal heirs, aggrieved with our corrupt law and judiciary system of India upto Supreme Court judge’s, since, 2001, responsible to deliver fair and proper justice in all cases, if not Disputes, that degree obtained by hiding the existence of vital documents from Hon’ble Courts is a fraud, when it is used to gain advantage on the part of other party.

    Hope my family will get fair and proper justice at the earliest at your kind end.

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  7. Jagmohan Khera

    Respected all,

    Considering the material facts, under intimation if your intentions are clear, you all in the interests of justice, are requested to register FIR w.i.e and send Gopal Krishan khera/Vijay Kalra/Gulshan kalra/Asha chawla/kamal juneja/chander prakash khera his wife sharda khera their sons keshav and vukul khera in jail as per CRPC, who have grabbed family property and dispossessed my family from E-221, from own house on 14/10/2016 by hatching a well planned conspiracy, by playing fraud with the process of law, by hiding the existence of all vital documents of property; through forged ration card no.207502/forged will dt.11/3/99/forged conveyance deed dated 27/4/2000, to manipulates to show only one legal heir of Surrender Nath khera (my father) of property Regd on 4/9/1982, does not match with record, already confirmed by sub Registrar delhi Govt. in response to president letter in 2020.

    Hope above will be done at your kind end.

    With regards

    Sr citizen jagmohan khera and family legal heirs of property/surrender Nath khera, aggrieved herein with our corrupt law and judiciary system since, 2001, facing financial and irreparable age/health losses, which can never be explained /compensated in words??????. Mobile No 97180 59869

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  8. The Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh, past and present, have played instrumental roles in shaping the state’s destiny. Each leader brought their unique vision and focus areas, contributing to the growth and development of this diverse and vibrant state. The legacy of leadership continues with Yogi Adityanath, whose tenure is marked by a relentless pursuit of progress and prosperity for the people of Uttar Pradesh.
    https://www.indianetzone.com/52/chief_ministers_uttar_pradesh.htm

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  9. The Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, both past and present, have played instrumental roles in shaping the state’s trajectory. Each leader brought a unique perspective and contributed to the socio-economic development of the region. YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, the current Chief Minister, continues this legacy with a focus on inclusive development and welfare programs. As Andhra Pradesh progresses, the contributions of its Chief Ministers stand as a testament to the resilience and dynamism of the state’s political leadership.
    https://www.indianetzone.com/52/chief_ministers_andhra_pradesh.htm

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  10. West Bengal has been governed by a series of Chief Ministers who have played pivotal roles in shaping the political and economic landscape of the region. The Chief Ministers of West Bengal, past and present, have shaped the destiny of the state. From the early years of Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy to the present leadership of Mamata Banerjee, each administration has left an indelible mark on West Bengal’s socio-economic fabric. As the state continues to evolve, the contributions of its leaders remain integral to its progress and development.
    https://www.indianetzone.com/52/chief_ministers_west_bengal.htm

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  11. The Chief Ministers of Indian states play a crucial role in shaping the destiny of their respective regions. As the country progresses, the contributions of these leaders become increasingly significant. This overview provides a snapshot of the diverse initiatives and priorities undertaken by the incumbent Chief Ministers across the 28 states, reflecting the varied challenges and opportunities present in the Indian political landscape.

    https://www.indianetzone.com/8/chief_ministers_india.htm

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  12. Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir have played crucial roles in navigating the complex socio-political dynamics of the region. Mehbooba Mufti, as the last Chief Minister before the reorganization, faced the challenges of a shifting political landscape. The absence of a Chief Minister since June 2017 and the establishment of a Union Territory status signify a paradigm shift in governance.
    https://www.indianetzone.com/52/chief_ministers_jammu_kashmir.htm

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  13. Jagmohan Khera

    Respected all, Pl feel to understand, that only because of corrupt or incompetent judges/advocate/police/Govt officials/officers, me my family (without any reason or fault) facing “Endless” fake court cases/financial and irreparable age health losses untold mental stress, in back from 2001, which can never be explained compensated in words by all concerned, whosoever is responsible to destroy spoiled our family life of over 22 years, even by chiefe justices of Supreme Court who are also enjoying their safe and secure family life by ignoring material facts by creating the Dram to deliver fair and proper justice in all cases 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭????????, who is responsible, none of them, from Grassroots to top police officers??????😭🙏

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  14. Jagmohan Khera

    Dear Sir, Enquiry Officer has been assigned to your Complaint No.:801012407781 Dated 04/02/24 Following are Details of EO: NAME:Ranbir Singh Rank: Inspector PIS No.:28060876 Mobile No.:9868310715 Regards, CCTNS Admin.

    Abòve fraud process under bribe or for personal gain interests to shield the SKIN of each other accused persons of this case and to make me fool by Delhi police is still continue in back from 2012 but FIR has yet not been registered by concerned Police officers 🙏.

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  15. Jagmohan Khera

    Hon’ble Sir, in my view, voting, democracy, law and judiciary system upto Supreme Court is only fraud process to shield the SKIN of each other accused persons to loot maximum tax payers money, to enjoy safe and secure family life on tax payers to loot aggrieved citizens till death (without applying own mind) by adopting Gandhi Policy 🙈🙊🙉 (without any fear of criminal laws) by creating the drama to deliver fair and proper justice in all cases, if not, pl. to share the names of your near dear Hindu Ministrs Parliamentarisns MLA’S MP’S DM/ADM/SR, IAS, IPS, IFS, Secretaries, beurocrates law policy makers, judges advocates, Court Staff, police officers public servants who are as Honest as Hon’ble President APJ Kalam Sahab and Lal Bahadur Shastri ji was, upto Supreme Court all concerned Hindus are in Q’s in nation interests only at your end. Have a thoughtful, Dark, unexplained, untold mental stress, slave future ahead???🙏

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