File photo of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal
The Centre has sought a report from the Samajwadi Party-led Uttar Pradesh government on the suspension of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nath, who had cracked down on sand mafia involved in rampant quarrying along the banks of Yamuna river.
The move comes in the backdrop of Congress President Sonia Gandhi writing a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, saying that Ms Nagpal, a 2010-batch officer, should not be "unfairly treated".
The Prime Minister holds the charge of Ministry of Personnel, the nodal department for administrative matters of IAS cadre.
The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has shown urgency in the matter and written to the UP government seeking a report on 28-year-old Nagpal's suspension, official sources said.
"We must ensure that the officer is not unfairly treated," Mrs Gandhi had said in her letter to the Prime Minister.
A state government has to mandatorily give a report to the Centre in case of suspension of an IAS officer, the sources said, adding that it is still awaited from the UP authorities in Ms Nagpal's case.
Ms Nagpal, who belongs to the UP cadre, was suspended on July 27 ostensibly for ordering demolition of a wall of a local under-construction mosque without following the due process.
Her suspension has evoked sharp reaction from opposition parties, including the BJP and the BSP, which have alleged that the Sub-Divisional Officer was removed for her crackdown on the sand mafia operating in Gautam Budh Nagar area of the state.