NEW DELHI: CBI has filed an FIR against former director general Coast Guard K Natrajan in connection with allegations of tampering with annual confidential report (ACR) dossiers of senior officers. Last year, CBI had started a probe after receiving a communication from defence ministry.
“A representation dated June 7, 2021 by Rakesh Pal, the then IG, Indian Coast Guard was received in the office of defence secretary, raising the issue of alleged deliberate reduction in numerical assessment of his ACRs/dossiers for depriving him of his next possible promotion to the rank of ADG in forthcoming assessment in 2019. The defence ministry had referred the matter to CBI, highlighting suspected manipulations in the confidential personal records of senior officers,” reads the FIR. The defence ministry had also constituted a fact-finding committee consisting of joint secretary (armed forces) to examine ACRs of the last seven years from 2014 onwards of IGs/ADGs under consideration of promotion to ADG since Sept 2019 onwards. “The fact-finding committee reported that tampering/alteration/irregularities have been found in some of the ACRs of officers under consideration for promotion to ADG in assessments held in 2019 and 2021. The committee discovered that instances of alteration have been found in the ACR dossiers of many officers,” the FIR quotes the report.
CBI also uncovered instances of alteration in ACR dossiers of several officers. Furthermore, non-initiation certificates for a few officers were found to be missing. These findings led to the registration of FIR, officials said.
“It has been further revealed that NICs were found to be not in order as they were not in congruence with the transfer profile of the concerned officer and initiating officer. NICs have been submitted 3-4 years after passing of the reporting period. The tampered/ altered ACRs of IG Rakesh Pal have been used during the year 2019 when the ACRs were under the direct custody of DG Natarajan,” the FIR says. “These acts prima-facie disclose the commission of cognizable offences of criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery on the part of Natrajan and others,” the FIR further reads.