Patna: The Bihar Revenue Service Association has lodged a formal complaint with the chief minister, accusing Vijay Kumar Sinha of humiliating revenue officials during public grievance redressal sessions and using language that, it says, undermines constitutional norms and administrative decorum.
In a letter sent to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the association alleged that officers are being publicly berated and threatened in the name of swift justice, with remarks such as “I will suspend you on the spot,” “answer in front of the public,” and demands for immediate action during open hearings. Such conduct, it said, amounts to misbehaviour and verbal abuse on public platforms, including media and social media.
The association warned that if the practice continues, officers may be forced to cease work, including through mass leave, a move that could severely disrupt land administration, revenue collection and related public services across Bihar.
Describing the approach as populist and unconstitutional, the letter argued that repeated references to “on-the-spot decisions”, “people’s court” and “field trials” resemble governance by spectacle rather than due process. “This is not in keeping with a constitutional democracy,” the association said, adding that instant punishments announced from public platforms violate established legal and administrative procedures.
The officers’ body also expressed concern that senior officials were seen endorsing the public reprimands, sending what it called a dangerous signal that personal popularity was being prioritised over institutional integrity. It said that singling out circle officers and revenue employees in public and portraying them as corrupt or incompetent unfairly maligns the entire revenue administration.
According to the association, the persistent problems surrounding land disputes and land reforms in Bihar are decades-old and structural, shaped by historical laws and policies since independence. “Holding only present-day field officers responsible for these failures is neither just nor intellectually honest,” the letter said.
Raising broader questions, the association asked whether similar public humiliation would be extended to police officers, judges, doctors or officials from other departments, warning that normalising such practices risks eroding trust in public institutions.
If the government fails to intervene to protect the dignity of officers, the association said, it would be left with no option but to take “drastic steps”, with consequences that could ripple across Bihar’s already strained land and revenue system.
