Senior Haryana bureaucrat denies sexual harassment charges

Rohtak (Haryana) [India], June 11 (ANI): Haryana Additional Chief Secretary Sunil Gulati on Monday denied the sexual harassment allegations levied against him by a 28-year-old woman IAS officer.

Gulati said he is ready to face a probe and is even willing to take lie-detection test.

"It's my duty to train my staff. It's up to her to be willing to learn. If going to field troubles her, then the government can transfer her. I'm ready for a probe. Even I am ready for a lie-detection test," said Gulati while addressing the media.

His comments came after the woman IAS officer wrote a post on Facebook on Sunday, giving details of the incident.

She said that the male officer called her to his office on May 22 and "threatened" her.

"He questioned me why I write on files the wrongs the department has done," she wrote.

The senior officer allegedly threatened to file a complaint and "spoil her Annual Confidential Report (ACR) if she did not stop writing adverse comments on the official files".

The senior officer summoned her on May 31 and apparently instructed his staff that no other person should enter the room.

"He asked me to tell what type of work I wanted to do, whether I want departmental work or time-pass work. And then he asked me to stop writing adverse comments on the files. His behaviour seemed immoral," she said.

On June 6, the senior officer called her into his office again at 5 pm and asked her to stay there till 7.39 pm, the lady officer claimed.

"I was sitting on the other side of the table in front of him. He asked me to get up and come closer to his chair. When I reached the other side of the table, he pretended to teach me how to operate a computer. I rushed back to my chair... After some time, he got up. Pretending to find a paper, he came close to my chair and pushed it," she wrote.

The woman officer said she had sent an e-mail to President Ram Nath Kovind with regard to the entire incident. (ANI)

This story has not been edited. It has been published as provided by ANI