NEW DELHI: While the retired “cabinet secretary, Mr. Zafir _ Satifullah, is busy fighting it out _ with his former bosses: in the sugar scam, his wife Mrs. Yasmin | Saifullah, is also battling charges of corruption leveled by her bosses al the India Trade Promotion Organization, where she is a senior employee.
Mrs. Saifullah was served a charge sheet last month which accused her of misusing official vehicles and telephone during her stint as Manager of ITPO’s Bombay office. The charge sheet alleged that she cost ITPO several Lakhs of rupees in private phone calls and car fittings which were never installed.
Significantly, Mrs. Saifullah resigned from ITPO a week before the charge sheet reached her, her resignation was, however, not accepted. She has now withdrawn it and decided to fight back.
“It is not afraid,” she declared. “This is a clear case of vendetta because of my husband. It is better to fight it out and I have asked for documents to support the charges and more time to give my reply.”
While the ITPO chairman, Mahesh Prasad, refused to comment on the controversy, sources in the organization maintained that the charges were framed on the basis of an audit report which found discrepancies in the books of the Bombay office. Mrs, Saifullah was posted in Bombay till a year and a half ago when she was transferred to Delhi following her husband’s appointment as Cabinet Secretary.
Mrs. Saifullah also accused Mr. Prasad of “terrorizing” the staff in Bombay to sign false representations against her, “I have worked with six managing directors and four chairmen during my 30 years of service in ITPO and I have never had any trouble,” she stressed. “But ever since my husband retired from the post of Cabinet Secretary, I have been harassed and humiliated. Finally, I decided to hell with the job. And I sent in my resignation on October 21.”The charge sheet reached her on Oct.28.
Article extracted from this publication >> November 25, 1994
