Rani Nagar, an Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer of the Haryana cadre, has taken to social media to narrate her ordeal of how the system failed her. The 2014-batch woman officer had tendered resignation from her post in May this year, citing threat to "personal safety", almost two years after she leveled sexual harassment allegations against her boss.
"I do hereby most humbly submit to you my resignation from IAS with immediate effect that is effective from May 4, 2020. The reason for submitting this resignation is personal safety on government duty," Rani stated in her resignation letter, which was addressed to the Chief Secretary Keshni Anand Arora. She had put up a copy of her resignation letter on her social media accounts as well.
Rani accused her boss of sexual harassment
Hailing from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, Rani was posted as Additional Director in the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment and Director of the Haryana Archives.
She made headlines in June 2018 when she leveled sexual harassment allegations against her then supervisor, senior IAS officer Sunil Gulati. In an elongated post on Facebook, she accused Gulati of making inappropriate gestures on a number of occasions.
She reportedly took the matter before several concerned authorities alleging that the senior bureaucrat used "double meaning words" and even threatened to spoil her Annual Confidential Report (ACR). Later, Rani also asserted that she received threats pertaining to personal security.
However, Gulati dubbed her allegations baseless and refuted all the claims one by one.
Gulati was adjudged not guilty
Following Rani's accusations and complaints against Gulati, the matter was taken up by the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC). After an elaborate inquiry, the ICC found the harassment accusations made against Gulati to be untrue. In its final report, the committee also mentioned that Rani might have to undergo a psychiatric examination.
Raising her voice against the ICC's decision, Rani has been continuously sharing a copy of the committee's report on Twitter and Facebook. Demanding justice, she wrote, "I resigned from Indian Administrative Service on 04 May 2020 after six years of service. I want to share my ordeal with you. This is the report received in my complaint of sexual harassment against Sh. Sunil K Gulati IAS in year 2018."
