An Open Presentation to PM Shri Manmohan Singh

(Through: Prin. Sec-PMO, Smt. Sonia Gandhi, President -AICC, and Smt. Sushma Swaraj - Leader Opposition. )
About Corruption in HPCL in the knowledge of PMO, CVC, Ministry of Petroleum and Non Implementation of RTI Act at PMO

By Pankaj Khanna
A whistle blower fighting against corruption in HPCL for the last 10 yrs and trying to have a meeting with you for last 6 yrs.

April 4, 2012

http://pankaj-khanna.blogspot.com/ Mobile No. 9424810575

1

Disclaimer

This whistle blower is neither a member of any political party nor a social activist with a covert or overt agenda. He does not get any Grant/Finance from any institution or individual. This is not to doubt the integrity of PM, but is only to question integrity of some incompetent and insensitive Bureaucrats in PMO, CS,CVC, Ministry of Petroleum who always seem to bow down to the financial might of HPCL Management. This is against the bureaucrats who indulge in corruption , create mess, and then they have cheek to suggest to a whistle blower to go to court ! The Presentation (along with CD) is being sent through Ruling Party and Opposition only to ensure that it is received and read by the PM.
This presentation is being loaded on net. All links may not open from the net. If a viewer wants to see the full details ; he can send a blank CD along with a duly stamped self addressed envelope to receive the CD.

Background of self

B.E. (Mech) from Devi Ahilya University Indore in 1983. Joined Hindustan Petroleum in Dec 84 as an Officer Trainee. Held different positions in HPCL such as Safety Engineer, Sr. Maintenance Engineer, Plant Manager, Depot Manager, Exe Engineer and Executive Sales Officer in different Departments across the Country. Received 19 Appreciation letters from 1984 to 2001. As Executive Engineer in Bareilly/Meerut in 2001 , I saw and opposed a lot of corrupt practices and blew whistle on Corruption and misuse of Office. First took up the matter internally with the bosses. It backfired.

The long Battle goes on and on..

I took up the matter of Corruption and misuse of Office with the Board of Directors and the Directorate of Public Grievances (DPG) in 2003. The DPG advised the Ministry of Petroleum in Jan 2004 to take up the matter. The Ministry took up the matter with HPCL through Most Immediate eight reminders in 2004 but none was replied by the HPCL Management! The Director Marketing (HPCL) threatened in Feb 04 of dire consequences for sending the representations to the Board, DPG and Ministry of Petroleum. Govt. Of India passed a resolution in April 2004 to protect Whistle Blowers at the instance of Honorable Supreme Court in the case of late Shri Satyendra Dubey. Consequently, sent a representation to the CVC in August 04 highlighting the Corrupt practices. Sent many more Reminders to the CVC from Sept 2004 to January 2005. From August 04 onwards I was not allowed to work. Reported the matter to big bosses of HPCL through 42 reminders and also reported to the Ministry of Petroleum.

Meeting with CVC

The Secretary CVC Shri S Bannerjee finally called me to his Office in February 2005 to discuss the matter. Explained to him all the facts as mentioned in Letter dated 4/8/04 and submitted additional documents about the corrupt practices ( placement of Purchase orders on single Quotation basis, Completion of jobs without tendering, Procurement of undersized steel plates for Petrol/Diesel tanks at Retail Outlets, posing a grave safety hazard) & also informed the Secretary about the wide spread corruption in the matter of Transfers and Promotions. Also informed the fact that I was not being allowed to work by the Management of HPCL. The Secretary-CVC issued a letter dated Mar 4, 05 to the CVO HPCL ( a subordinate to the bosses of HPCL, against whom the complaint was sent in the first place!) directing CVO not to victimize me. CVC never followed up with HPCL after this. They never conducted any enquiry from their Office. In fact their recommendation Report is yet to be received. And vindictive Management of HPCL responded with issuance of Charge Sheet and a series of Hate Emails against this Whistle Blower, parallel of which can not be found in any democratic Country. This was done under the knowledge of the designated agency (CVC) under GOI Resolution to protect Whistle Blowers.
5

Charge Sheet against Unauthorized Absenteeism

Only after a few days of receipt of the letter CVC, the Mgmnt of HPCL responded vindictively with a Charge Sheet against the only but entirely fabricated charge of Unauthorized absenteeism.( The Management of HPCL initially wanted to trap me for some financial irregularities from Vigilance angle but could not find any document to incriminate me despite all their efforts. It was due to my impeccable dealings since the beginning.)
Now the trial of self and the family had begun. The trial which can put even the trial of the protagonist of the novel The Trial by Kafka to shame. For details about it kindly click on the link Kafkaesque Trial and the Denial of Payments.

Spread of Hate Mails by the HPCL Management

Just after a few days of issuing the Charge Sheet , a hate Email was issued on 5/5/05 from the address prcc@hpcl.co.in ( Owned by DGM-Public Relations & Corporate Communications) to all the 11000 employees of the Corporation in the filthiest possible language while warning the Officers not to be my Defense Counsel. Many more hate emails were issued from May 05 to January 07 from various HPCL addresses owned by the high ranking HPCL Officials. To see all the hate emails , kindly click the link Hate Mails.
7

The Impact of the Hate Email

In the hate email dated 5/5/05 I was referred to as an AIDS Patient, terrorist and what not. Consequently I was ostracized from the Officers Community for ever. My friends and colleagues for years stopped talking to me as if I was a terrorist or really an AIDS Patient ! Nobody from HPCL agreed to be my Defense Counsel and no body was appointed as Defense Counsel to me despite my incessant requests. The Enquiry proceedings were completed ex parte without appointing Defense Counsel and without even paying my expenses to attend the enquiry proceedings . For the gory details about the farcical enquiry , please click on the link Kafkaesque Trial.

I have not been able to file an FIR despite requesting the Cyber Crime Cell, Mumbai Police and all the organs of the Government including Ministry of Petroleum, CVC ,Cabinet Secretariat and PMO rather so repeatedly, probably due to the financial power of the Mighty HPCL ( with a turn over of more than Rs 135000 Crores.)
8

Status of the Case

I have lost the job in Oct 06 against the fabricated charge of Unauthorized Absenteeism proved by the HPCL Management in a manner you can not find in any democratic set up. ( Kafkaesque Trial) I have returned to my home town Indore in May 07 and have taken up the job of a teacher but am still not willing to leave the Country to get any lucrative job commensurate with my qualifications / experience in the OIL Industry. For the simple reason: I love my Country .

My fight, not for personal gains, is still against Corruption and misuse of Office by HPCL Authorities who operate with impunity under the protection of some Bcrats. It is also to restore my dignity and honor compromised by the hate emails.
They took two years to clear my PF/Gratuity/Insurance amount and still are holding Experience certificate and lot of other dues in lacs for the last 5 years. The PMO, Cabinet Secretariat, DPG and CVC continue to send back my representations back to Ministry of Petroleum /HPCL for necessary action(!). It is like handing over a Complaint of an ordinary citizen by the Police Department to the criminal himself for taking the necessary action! See the last letters written to all concerned: 10/11/09 29/12/09 , 7/3/10 and 1/12/2012.
(All the details about fight can also be accessed by clicking on A Cry for help from a Whistle Blower from CD)

Non Implementation of RTI Act at PMO

An RTI application dated1/1/07 was sent to CPIO-PMO mainly to know: The action taken on the representations sent, the likely date on which I , a common-man, could meet you, the procedure about a common-man to have an appointment with you and the no. of meetings held by the Committees appointed by you in 2004 on Corruption/Grievance. As the required information was not received from CPIO-PMO and the Appellate Authority, a second Appeal, under RTI was sent to CIC which passed its judgment on 28/2/2008. CIC passed a judgment directing PMO to provide only part information, criticizing the PMO and CS severely for the inordinate delay in handling the applications. As the PMO and CS Officials pleaded guilty and promised to provide the desired info immediately; I requested CIC going out of way, on humanitarian grounds, to ignore the delay and waive the penalty on them. The fact is mentioned in the judgment also. The required info-- just the no. of meetings held on the subject of Corruptionis still not provided by the same PMO/CS officials even after 4 years of the judgment! While I have not sought legal remedy, would like to emphasize that it is because of such non-functioning bcrats that the load on judiciary increases many times, while justice eludes a citizen for yrs.
Sir, I will not call the bcrats Babus considering your request in your last speech. But , even if we call them angel, they will remain what they are. Sadly, we remain ranked 95 in TI Index mainly because of such Bcrats.

10

Appreciations

Manjunath Shanmugam Trust ( formed in the memory of Late Shri Manjunath Shanmugam, Sales Officer IOCL) has nominated me for the Manjunath Integrity Award for three years.

Manjunath Integrity Award Nomination.

Letter dated 15/6/2009. Citation dated 15/6/2009.

11

Appeal to PM

The GOI, through PM is requested to kindly :

(1) Consider this long pending case about Whistle Blowing while finalizing the designated agency to protect Whistle Blowers in the proposed Whistle Blower Protection Act.

(2)voluntarily include PMO, in view of this representation, in proposed Lokpal Bill whenever it is discussed for approval.
(3) provide relief to this whistle blower in line with the requests made in various representations sent & in the spirit of the GOI Resolution passed at the instance of Honorable Supreme Court.
[There is no need now to grant me a date for appointment as what ever I had to say is mentioned here with all necessary documents for one to see. My sincere apologies to you, if it causes embarrassment. But I had to inform you about the perils of Whistle Blowing and had to show you the ugly face of Bureaucracy.]

12