The Gujarat government on Thursday compulsorily retired two Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers, K Rajesh and Gaurav Dahiya, as part of “Operation Gangajal”, an exercise targeting officials facing corruption allegations, disciplinary proceedings and serious misconduct.
Rajesh was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2022 in a corruption case relating to his tenure as Surendranagar collector between April 2018 and June 2021. The government had ordered a formal departmental inquiry after Dahiya was suspended in August 2019 following a state inquiry committee finding substance in allegations of bigamy and professional misconduct made by a Delhi-based woman. The Gujarat government revoked Dahiya’s suspension in July 2023, nearly four years after he was suspended, and appointed him as additional development commissioner in Gandhinagar.
He was accused of taking bribes in connection with the issue of arms licences and allotment of government land. The ED later arrested him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and filed a prosecution complaint against him. Dahiya denied the allegations and alleged that he had been honey-trapped and blackmailed. Delhi Police later gave him a clean chit in the complaint made by the woman.
A Gujarat government official said the action against Dahiya followed disciplinary proceedings, controversies and misconduct inquiries during his service, including issues relating to his tenure with the National Health Mission. However, the Gujarat government said at the time that separate departmental inquiries into other complaints against him were still pending. The Gujarat government’s action against the two officers comes as part of its continuing review of officials facing disciplinary and integrity-related proceedings under the exercise referred to as “Operation Gangajal”.
