An IAS officer who found herself in a controversy last year for allegedly clearing a stadium of athletes to make way for her dog’s evening walk has been compelled to retire by the government, according to reports from the news agency PTI, citing sources with knowledge of the matter. The bureaucrat in question, Rinku Dugga, was stationed in Arunachal Pradesh when the government enforced her compulsory retirement. As indicated by PTI’s sources, the government possesses the authority to retire any government employee “if it deems it to be in the public interest.”
Who is Rinku Dugga?
Rinku Dugga is a 1994-batch AGMUT (Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory) cadre officer. She and her husband, Sanjeev Khirwar, also a 1994-batch IAS officer, were transferred out of Delhi the previous year following a report by The Indian Express alleging that athletes at the Thyagraj Stadium were compelled to conclude their training sessions early to allow the IAS couple to take their dog for an evening stroll at the facility.
The Ministry of Home Affairs subsequently received a report from the Delhi chief secretary providing the ‘factual position’ concerning the alleged misuse of Thyagraj Stadium’s facilities by the couple.
‘…not for dogs’: Delhi athletes on row over IAS officer closing stadium to walk dog
While Khirwar, who served as the principal secretary (revenue) with the Delhi government, was transferred to Ladakh, Dugga assumed the role of Principal Secretary, Indigenous Affairs in Arunachal Pradesh.
Dugga has been subjected to compulsory retirement under the provisions of Fundamental Rules (FR) 56(j), Rule 48 of the Central Civil Services (CCS) Pension Rules, 1972, following an assessment of her service record, as reported by PTI.