Additional Chief Secretary (Home) refused to review final report of inquiry

Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Onkar Sharma, who conducted a fact-finding inquiry into the death of Vimal Negi, a Chief Engineer of Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd (HPPCL), had rejected the request of the Power Department to review the final report to include the rebuttals of three officers facing allegations.

It is through a letter dated May 14, 2025, that Secretary (Power) Rakesh Kanwar had sought the inclusion of the statements of the three officers against whom Vimal Negi’s family had levelled allegations. Sharma had submitted the 66-page fact-finding inquiry report to the Power Department on April 8 in a sealed cover, which was later submitted in court. “It will not be justifiable to delete, add or review the fact-finding inquiry report in the ends of law and justice. Therefore, the inquiry report is not altered or reviewed and returned in original along with the record,” Sharma wrote back to Kanwar in a letter dated May 15. The three officers of the HPPCL, namely Harikesh Meena, MD; Shivam Pratap, Director (Personnel); and Desh Raj, Director (Electrical), had appeared and deposed before Sharma.

“The inquiry report has made some observations against the delinquent officers, without giving them an opportunity of rebuttal, which is an essential requirement of the principle of natural justice,” wrote Kanwar. He also stated that the inquiry report was a set of statements and had travelled beyond its scope.

Sharma is heading the fact-finding inquiry, which has been ordered to look into the allegations against the management of the HPPCL following Vimal Negi’s demise.

“The officers, after having been satisfied, appended their signatures on their statements. The right of rebuttal is available to the delinquent officers only when they are facing a regular departmental inquiry,” he added.

Sharma in his reply also contested Kanwar’s remarks that he (Sharma) in his capacity as the Inquiry Officer went beyond the scope of the inquiry were not at all tenable. “Your department has lost the sight of the fact that it was merely a fact-finding inquiry and not a regular inquiry,” he wrote while rejecting the request for a review of the inquiry report.

Sharma defended his decision not to reconsider the request for recording fresh statements of the officers against whom Vimal Negi’s family had levelled allegations. He said that their statements were recorded as per their versions. “The law states that during the course of a fact-finding inquiry, the suspect officer, against whom allegations have been levelled, is not required to be associated,” he wrote.

“In the present case, in order to meet the ends of justice, I have not only associated the aforesaid delinquent officers in the inquiry but also recorded their defence versions in their statements by giving them a full opportunity of putting forth their defence,” Sharma wrote. He also pointed out that during the course of the inquiry, the said delinquent officers had not raised any issue that the principle of natural justice had been given a clear go-by.

Himachal Tribune