CBI gets Centre nod to prosecute ex-principal secretary to Kejriwal
Kumar was arrested, released on bail in July last year Kumar was arrested, released on bail in July last year
The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) have concurred with the CBI’s findings while granting sanction to prosecute Rajendra Kumar, former principal secretary to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), while seeking an approval from the CVC and the DoPT, said there is “enough evidence of wrongdoing” on the part of Kumar, officials familiar with the matter told The Indian Express.
The MHA also rejected the voluntary retirement plea of the IAS officer, who has accused CBI of trying to frame him. “The sanction will now pave the way for a CBI court to frame charges against Kumar and others, who were chargesheeted by the agency in December 2016,” said an MHA official, adding that the VRS request was rejected due to pending investigations against Kumar.
Under the Delhi special police establishment Act, a sanction is mandatory for the agency to prosecute any government official. Kumar, a 1989 batch IAS officer, was arrested on July 4 last year and granted bail by a CBI court on July 26.
The agency, in its chargesheet, alleged that the accused had entered into a criminal conspiracy to cause a loss of Rs 12 crore to the Delhi government in award of contracts between 2007 and 2015.
Kumar was charged with criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery, besides provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, along with eight others and Endeavour Systems Private Limited (ESPL). The agency also cited a purported audio recordings that it claimed was seized from Kumar’s computer during raids in 2015.
According to CBI, the audio clips contain Kumar’s instructions to “influence and manipulate” contracts in favour of ESPL. Recently, Kumar wrote in a blog post: “It is clear they understand the chargesheet filed is going to fail and therefore the only way to continue to threaten people is to misuse provisions of CrPC.”