Former Indian ambassador Kodamraju Pratap charged with financial irregularities

Pratap: An unseemly controversyAn overlay of quiet grace and good manners would seem indispensable to the functioning of a diplomatic service. Yet there is nothing graceful about the latest wrangle at New Delhi's South Block. The External Affairs Ministry and a former Indian ambassador are locked in a grim battle that both sides mean to fight to the bitter end. The rancour has occasioned the washing of dirty linen in public. On the positive side, some interesting sidelights on the functioning of Indian missions abroad have come to light for the first time.The ministry has charged Kodamraju Pratap, a former ambassador in Tunis, Tunisia, with financial irregularities that are being looked into by an investigating officer of the Central Vigilance Commission. Pratap has refuted all these charges. "They are all concocted," says his counsel, "I have been made a victim of the mafia running the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) because I did not conform to the life-style of IFS officers and have been exposing the anti-Indian activities of the service ever since I joined it in 1954."Pratap, 58, is due to retire in July this year from a service where he is something of an aberration. Unlike many of his suave, westernized colleagues he does not drink and self-confessedly abhors the western way of life. Pratap wears a vermilion mark on his forehead and is proud of his journalist connections. (He is the son of K. Ramarau, founder-editor of the National Herald and the brother of journalist K. Vikram Rao who was involved in the Baroda dynamite case). Pratap himself was a member of the Indian information service till 1954 when he was picked by P.N. Haksar to serve in the diplomatic corps.Charges: He has since worked at Indian missions in Accra, Nairobi, Bonn, Djakarta, Washington and Tunis in various capacities - press attache, first secretary, counsellor and finally the first resident ambassador (Tunis) from where he was telegraphically recalled in early 1979 on the basis of a fact-finding committee report. The committee consisted of J.N. Dixit, then secretary, Indian Council of Cultural Relations, and now the official spokesman of the External Affairs Ministry and Frank Dewars, joint secretary (personnel), in the same ministry.According to reliable sources, the ministry wanted to drop the case to avoid embarrassment and publicity. Pratap, however, insisted on a promotion that he thought was due to him. The ministry on the other hand thought that the facts of the case ruled out the possibility of a promotion. Pratap then took his case to court where his writ petition was dismissed. Undaunted by this setback, he started airing his grievances through the press.The 20 charges levelled against Pratap include receiving insurance claim money in Washington and not informing the ministry, the purchase of two cars, receipt of insurance compensation when the cars were destroyed in accidents and not reporting either claim to the ministry.Other infringements of foreign service regulations include permitting his wife to work as a librarian in the United States, getting a radio fixed in his car, gifting away usable furniture to his secretary in Tunis, drawing about Rs 4,000 from the embassy for the presentation of gifts and not submitting vouchers, drawing a representational allowance of Rs 2,000 every month but not filing returns for the same and drawing a travelling allowance for 1,719 kilometres for a journey undertaken by his wife.Pratap's legal advisors claim that all these charges were framed out of malice and were malafide. He always informed the ministry about all purchases and his actions mentioned in the above charges. Regarding the journeys his wife undertook he maintains that they were as per the convention of diplomatic service.Faux Pas: This is not the first time that Pratap is in trouble with his superiors. During the early days of his service he wrote to the ministry saying that he would not like to serve liquor to his guests but was advised against it. When he was in Accra in the late '50s he committed a faux pas by reproducing Nehru's speech on the Suez canal issue in the weekly India, little realising that this might not be welcome to the British who were still ruling Ghana.During the Janata regime he allegedly sent a detailed report to the Shah Commission complaining about the behaviour of Indian diplomats during the Emergency. Pratap claims that such a report was never sent to the commission. The ministry, interestingly, does not deny the existence of the report but contends there was nothing in it. Pratap did, in fact, have close links with dissidents among Indians in the United States during the Emergency.It is true that the amount involved in the financial irregularities allegedly indulged in by Pratap is small and that such complaints are often received by the ministry and are generally ignored. But since Pratap has made it a public matter, it is clear the ministry is not going to take it lying down.A joint secretary in the ministry confirms that senior officials are irked at the manner in which Pratap has been writing to politicians about his complaints and airing his grievances through the press. South Block is clearly in no mood to condone erratic behaviour on the part of wilful officers. For the moment the battle lines are clearly drawn.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Feb 24, 2014 08:18 IST--- ENDS ---

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Former Indian ambassador Kodamraju Pratap charged with financial irregularities

The External Affairs Ministry and a former Indian ambassador are locked in a grim battle that both sides mean to fight to the bitter end. The rancour has occasioned the washing of dirty linen in public.

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