The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday named six IAS officers in the third chargesheet filed in connection with the ₹ 504-crore IDFC First Bank fraud involving multiple Haryana government departments and organisations.
The CBI has filed the chargesheet without obtaining prosecution sanction for the IAS officers. The trial court cannot take cognisance of the chargesheet or the police investigation report until the state government grants sanction for prosecution under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) provisions and the department of personnel and training (DoPT) under the Union personnel ministry grants sanction under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The CBI has conducted 54 searches in the case and seized incriminating material, including gold worth approximately ₹ 20 crore. As many as 26 accused have been arrested to date, according to the agency.
In the chargesheet submitted before the special CBI court, the federal probe agency has named Pardeep Kumar, then member secretary, HSPCB; Ram Kumar Singh, then commissioner, municipal corporation (MC), Panchkula; and Pankaj Agarwal, then chairman, Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board (HSAMB), who were arrested earlier in connection with the case, and Mohammad Shayin, then managing director of Haryana Power Generation Corporation Ltd (HPGCL), Saket Kumar, then commissioner and secretary, development and panchayats department, and Vineet Garg, then chairman of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB).
The CBI took over the investigation from the Haryana state vigilance and anti-corruption bureau at the request of the state government on April 8. The investigation found that funds belonging to eight Haryana government departments and organisations, which were maintained with various empanelled banks, were transferred to specific branches of IDFC First Bank and AU Small Finance Bank where the accused bank officials were posted.
Bank accounts were opened at these branches as part of the conspiracy, according to the chargesheet.
