Cabinet Secretariat to Investigate IAS Corruption Case in Delhi

Cabinet Secretariat to Investigate IAS Corruption Case in Delhi

March 26, 2022

The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has sent this case of bureaucratic corruption in Delhi to the Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India, for investigation. I have sent the following letter to the Cabinet Secretary to get the investigation and prosecution expedited so that the corrupt officials could be convicted and jailed. The names of the accused government officials in my complaints are given below.

By Rakesh Raman

To                                                                                                                                                                 March 20, 2022

Mr. Rajiv Gauba
Cabinet Secretary
Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India, New Delhi 

Copy for Urgent Action:

Dr. Jitendra Singh
Minister of State, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) / Prime Minister Office (PMO)
Government of India, North Block, New Delhi 110 001

Complaint by: Rakesh Raman

References: Removed to protect confidentiality

COMPLAINT OVERVIEW

This case / complaint is against a citywide crime and corruption racket being run by at least 20 top bureaucrats, police officials, members of judiciary, builders’ mafia, and a number of local criminals in Delhi. While corruption worth hundreds of crores of rupees is involved in this citywide construction scandal, the government officials – in connivance with other criminals – are blatantly violating a number of local and international laws to commit crimes and depriving people of their fundamental right to live in a clean environment.

Dear Mr. Rajiv Gauba,

I am a national award-winning journalist and founder of the humanitarian organization RMN Foundation in Delhi. Along with other editorial and social projects, I run various anti-corruption campaigns and publish The Integrity Bulletin news magazine, which covers local and international corruption news and issues to engage with different stakeholders who are trying to combat corruption. I have also been running a community-driven anti-corruption social service “Clean House” to help the residents of Delhi raise their voice against the growing corruption and injustice in housing societies where millions of people suffer because of rampant corruption and lawlessness. 

As described in the references given above, I have been complaining about this citywide corruption scandal for the past couple of years. Although I have received dozens of perfunctory letters from different government departments that inform me about the progress in investigation, no corrupt bureaucrat has been arrested or jailed so far. 

Instead of prosecuting and incarcerating the corrupt officials, these government departments are working as mere post offices to deliver letters from one department to another. As a result of the impunity provided to the corrupt officials, they are committing more corruption crimes blatantly.

My initial complaint was against Mr. Anurag Jain (IAS) DDA Vice Chairman; Mr. Devinder Singh (IAS), Registrar Cooperative Societies (RCS); and Mr. Pankaj Kumar (IAS) District Magistrate (North-East) Delhi. Since the corruption investigation processes in India are totally flawed and investigating officers collude with corrupt officials, more government officials are joining this citywide scandal in which massive corruption is happening. 

The names of some of the accused officials in this case are given below:

Mr. Devinder Singh, IAS, former Registrar Cooperative Societies (RCS), Delhi Government

Mr. Pankaj Kumar, IAS, District Magistrate (North-East) Delhi

Mr. Devesh Singh, IAS, Registrar (RCS) 

Mr. Rakesh Das, Deputy Registrar at RCS office 

Mr. Manish Kumar Gupta, IAS, Vice Chairman, Delhi Development Authority (DDA)

Mr. Anurag Jain, IAS, former Vice Chairman, DDA

Mr. Ajay Saroj, Director (Building) at DDA 

Mr. Yogesh Tyagi, Dy. Director at DDA

Mr. Manish Khurana, AD&SJ-cum-P.O. at Appellate Tribunal – MCD (ATMCD)

Mr. Santosh Kumar Meena, DCP; Mr. Anto Alphonse, DCP; and Mr. Shankar Choudhary, DCP of Delhi Police

If this entire case is prosecuted honestly, at least 20 government functionaries and many others should be jailed.  

Note: Since this is a digital document, you are requested to click the blue hyperlinks to download and study the additional documents including exhibits and photographs which provide full evidence in this case. 

REQUEST FOR ACTION

1. As this is a case of dereliction of duty and corruption, it must be investigated under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PC Act) and other provisions of IPC after immediately suspending the services of the accused officials so that they should not interfere in the investigation process.

2. Cancel / reverse the orders issued by the corrupt officials and direct the DDA and the RCS office of Delhi Government to immediately stop construction crime in Delhi’s cooperative group housing societies where men, women (including senior citizens), and children are suffering because of dust / noise pollution and accidents. [ You can click here to know more about this citywide construction-cum-corruption scandal. ]

3. Investigate and prosecute this case in a fast-track process so that the corrupt officials could be immediately convicted and jailed. 

4. Issue formal notices to the accused against whom I have filed the complaints and share their parawise response with me so that I could file the rejoinders. They should be asked to give parawise responses to each of my complaints instead of taking a brief, casual response from the accused officials.

5. Allow me to participate in the investigation hearings with the accused so that I could argue the case, leading to their prosecution and conviction. 

6. Do not close this case arbitrarily and keep me informed at every step of the investigation and prosecution so that I could provide my inputs.

7. Revamp your corruption investigation processes making them agile and effective.

RAMPANT CORRUPTION IN INDIA

A 2021 report released by the U.S. Department of State has revealed that rampant corruption is happening at all levels of government in India. The report – which also includes human rights violations in India – adds that the law provides criminal penalties for corruption by government officials, but most government officials frequently engage in corrupt practices with impunity. There were numerous reports of government corruption during the past year, the U.S. report says.

In addition to the U.S. State Department report, there are multiple global surveys which reveal that corruption is increasing rapidly in all parts of India. The U.S. report adds that corruption happens at different levels including the payment of bribes to expedite services, such as police protection, school admission, water supply, and government assistance. 

While rampant corruption is happening at every step in India, the untamed bureaucrats are blatantly defying laws that are supposed to prevent corruption. The latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released on January 25, 2022 by Transparency International reveals that India is among the most corrupt countries of the world.

The index, which ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, asserts that India, with a score of just 40, is ranked 85 in the world. In other words, India is more corrupt than 84 other countries.

As a result of bureaucratic and political corruption, the people of India are suffering under unprecedented inflation, pollution, hunger, unemployment, human rights violations, injustice, and extreme misery. 

COMPLICIT ANTI-CORRUPTION AGENCIES

All the anti-corruption agencies of India – such as the Lokpal, Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), Lokayuktas, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Economic Offences Wings (EOWs) of Police, state police departments, and also the DoPT as well as the Cabinet Secretariat – are working hand in glove with the corrupt government functionaries. 

Disturbed by the complicity of top anti-corruption departments in corruption crimes, in March 2022, I sent a petition to the President and the Chief Justice of India for the removal of the anti-corruption authority Lokpal under charges of non-performance and dereliction of duty.

As a journalist and anti-corruption activist, I have filed dozens of complaints against the corrupt officials over the years. I have observed that the anti-corruption investigation and the prosecution agencies are complicit in corruption crimes while they have formed a colossal criminal gang with the corrupt officials. 

Therefore, I do not expect a fair treatment to this complaint and it will be discarded or the action will be delayed inordinately under one pretext or another. So, as usual, the corrupt bureaucrats will never be caught and punished. They will keep committing more corruption crimes in connivance with the anti-corruption agencies.

As a result of the impunity provided to the crooks by the top anti-corruption officers, corruption is increasing exponentially in all parts of the country. Consequently, the people of India are facing a severe socio-economic crisis and India is getting a bad name at all global forums. This fact is illustrated above with facts and specific corruption cases. 

With these details, I request you to take action as described above and I hope that you will not brush this case under the carpet. 

You can click here to study the complete document (including case details, exhibits, and photographs) to take action as described in this document. [ As the investigation in this case is underway, this document has been protected with a password. The password can be provided to investigating agencies and other stakeholders on demand. Moreover, as the case is under investigation, some references and links have been removed / changed in the above report. ]

By Rakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of a humanitarian organization RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society.

He also runs the “Clean House” anti-corruption service which works like a community court to report about crime and corruption happening in Delhi’s group housing societies.