Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday returned over Rs nine lakh dues to settle his resignation from the IRS department. He sent a cheque of Rs 9,27,827 along with a letter to the prime minister Manmohan Singh, insisting that it does not mean any mistake.

In his four-page letter to Singh, Kejriwal said, “I am enclosing a cheque for Rs 9,27,787. This does not mean that I have accepted the mistake. When I don't know what was the mistake I committed, then there is no question of accepting it.”

The key member of Team Anna has been accused of violating the bond rules of his study-leave. Government has claimed that he had violated rules by quitting the service before completing the bond’s tenure of three years. Kejrwal, however, has declined to accept the allegation and said that during the period of his study-leave, which started on November 1, 2000, he was sanctioned for the pay for three years.

In his letter, Kejriwal said that he is facing the brunt because he is working on the Right to Information act and his association with Bharat Bhushan, Shekhar Singh and the NAC member Aruna Roy. He pointed out that he has been awarded the Magsaysay award for his contribution but the Indian government is holding him guilty of the same.
 

Find the letter, in Hindi, attached below. An English translation is here:

To,

Dr. Manmohan Singh,
Prime Minister, Government of India
New Delhi

Dear Sir,

Your government has asked me to submit a sum of over Rs. 9 lakh in lieu of accepting my resignation letter (out of which Rs. 1.5 lakh is related to a computer loan). Although for past five years I have been trying to make your government understand that I have not committed any crime and my punishment is in vain. Yet, the government does not understand my case.

I have been told that my file has been reviewed by the Prime Ministers’ Office (PMO) and I have been found guilty. Still, I am unable to understand my fault for which my punishment has been decreed.  If I am made to understand my fault, I would try and stay away from being a defaulter. 

I took a study leave for a period of two years on November 1, 2000. I had said that I would understand the dynamics of corruption in two of the government departments’ and try and offer a solution to it.  At that time, I was deputy commissioner, Income Tax.  I started to collect queries pertaining to income-tax and electricity department from the public.  Their queries were not being addressed in the due time by the respective departments as a result they were being forced to pay bribe to get their work done.   I had collected the problems of more than 700 people of the income-tax department and about 2800 people of the electricity department.  First and foremost, I influenced these departments to meet the problems of these 3500 people without taking any bribe. After which I re-analysed the problems in order to bring out prospective solutions for the respective departments so that problems of the kind might not be repeated in the near future.

We used to sit in front of the electricity department in the areas of Laxmi Nagar, Nand Nagri and Nehru place in order to appeal to the people that they should not indulge in the act of bribe in order to get their work done.  We helped many people in getting their work done without paying any bribe. As a result, the number of cases came down from 50 to less than 10 in the court cases pertaining to electricity department.

Please tell me that did I indulge in something that I should feel guilty of during the tenure of my study leave?

After completing my study leave in the year 2002, I rejoined the income tax department.  After I rejoined the department, I was not assigned any place and I roamed from one place to the other for a period of 1 year. I was religiously getting paid by the government without any efforts or work done. I was not amused at my plight and I thought that this way I would become futile. Since, I was not left with any holiday, so I took another two year leave without pay. This leave was processed and sanctioned by the government.  During this leave, I worked in alliance with Prashant Bhushan and Shekhar Singh on the Right to Information act. This act was duly supported by NAC member, Aruna Roy and was implemented through the body of NAC. After the act was passed, we got actively involved in its implementation drive.  Soon after, we put the right to information in practice by pointing out the corrupt practices and black marketing involved in the Ration department in Delhi. During this, our workers were attacked seven times and all these assaults were life-threatening as one of our workers was even stabbed in the neck.  Hon’ble Supreme Court appointed Justice Wadhwa commission, after we presented our case of the attacked workers and the corruption in the Ration department.  After these proceedings, I found it unfeasible to rejoin the income-tax department and decided to resign from the post.  I resigned from the post in February, 2006.

I repeat my question that during the leave without pay was it inappropriate of me to work for the Right to Information act. Was my work offensive in anyway?

When I took study leave on November 1, 2000, I had signed a bond with the government that I would not resign until three years of my completion of the study leave. This was the reason why I received my salary during the study leave.  I duly complied with the norms of the bond.  It was only after three and a half years of the study leave that I resigned. I have taken advice from many of my friends and legal experts. All of them believe that I am not guilty of anything and do not stand legally wrong. But, despite the fact, your government seeks to take back the amount commissioned to me in the form of salary along with the accrued interest during the study leave.  Your government questions that why did I go on a leave without pay after the two years of paid study leave as that was the time I was working on the Right to Information act.  As I mentioned before, I was not appointed a place after I rejoined from the paid study leave for over a year.  Would you have considered it better if I would have continued getting paid without being posted anywhere? 

The irony is that the work I did during the period of leave without pay has been internationally recognized and I have been conferred with the Magsaysay award but the Indian government thinks that I have committed a major crime. I would appeal to the government to let me know the nature of my crime.

I am here by enclosing a cheque of Rs 9, 27,827 (no.  931383;dated November 3) along with this letter. This does not mean that I am accepting my fault. When I don’t know what my mistake is then the question of accepting my mistake does not arise.  I am submitting this amount “under-protest”. I would be grateful to you if you could advice the finance minister to accept my resignation letter as soon as possible.  I reserve the right to file a case in the court once my resignation is accepted.

I do not have any cash reserve. Till date, I have collected a sum of Rs. 30,000,00 in the form of award money from various sources. All the money has been put into the protests in the form of donations which I have been a part of.  As a result of which, I am only left with a few thousands in my bank account. Therefore, I am unable to pay the government the “due” amount.  However, I have collected the “due” amount in the form of a loan with the aid of a few close friends who have known me over a long period of time. Though, I have received calls and letters by many people from all over India who expressed the desire to pay the “due” amount on my behalf. I am extremely grateful for their affection. But, if I raise money in this form I am liable to be charged with allegations that I misused the anti-corruption movement for my own personal interest.  This is the reason why I have taken loan from the people I have known over the years.

At this point in time, the whole government functionary is after Team Anna. I fold my hands in all humility and request your government to kindly leave my friends away from the matter who have helped me with the loan amount.


Yours sincerely,

Arvind Kejriwal,
L-403, Girnar Apartments,
Kaushambhi, Ghaziabad-201010
Uttar Pradesh.
Mobile no. 09868069953
Email: [email protected]