CBI chargesheets senior IAS officer

THE CENTRAL Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a chargesheet against senior IAS officer Sanjay Pratap Singh, after receiving sanction from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

A1984-batchiasofficer,singh was posted as principal secretary in Department for the Welfare of the Sc/st/obc/minorities. In December 2015, the CBI raided his office and recovered 31 gold bars weighing 3.20 kg and Rs 82 lakh in cash from one of the five lockers there.

Under Section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, the CBI needs prior sanction from the central government for prosecuting a public servant from All India Services.

The sanction was given last week following an approval by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh as the MHA deals with all matters related to Union Territories.

The CBI is learnt to have filed the chargesheet against Singh soon after obtaining the sanction, said officials. Both Department of Personnel & Training (DOPT), the cadre controlling authority for IAS officers, and Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) had earlier ruled in favour of granting sanction citing “sufficient evidence in CBI investigations”.

The agency had registered two cases against Singh following a complaint from Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s office. He was suspended following his arrest and recommendation by Delhi government. The first case relates to demand of bribe of Rs 2.20 lakh and was registered on the complaint of the owner of a private firm from whom Singh allegedly demanded the bribe for clearing pending bills related to supply of security guards and other manpower.

Thesecondfirwasregistered on the allegations of disproportionate assets to the tune of Rs 6.14 crores, said officials. At the time of raids, CBI also claimed to have seized 300 bottles of highend liquor brands and expensive watches from his residence.

Beside this, the agency claimed documents related to eight properties in posh areas such as Safdarjung Enclave, Sector 56 in Gurgaon, Sector 44 and Sector 50 of Noida and highend construction in Greater Noida were also seized. The value of property was estimated to be Rs 21 crore, said CBI.