A local court on Wednesday dismissed the anticipatory bail plea of IAS officer Vijay Singh Dahiya, named as an accused in a corruption case.
The court of additional district and sessions judge Sunil Kumar on Wednesday turned the plea down, terming it “was not a case fit for grant of anticipatory bail”.
The order also mentioned, “There is likelihood of the applicant/accused (Dahiya) influencing the course of investigation and intimidating the witnesses because after April 20, 2023, his family members and acquaintances allegedly reached the house of the shadow witness and attempted to pressurise him illegally.”
The rejection of Dahiya’s plea has paved the way for his arrest by the Haryana Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).
Posted as commissioner and secretary, youth empowerment and entrepreneurship department, Haryana, Dahiya was booked on April 20 for seeking illegal gratification for getting a Fatehabad resident’s bills, owed under the Haryana Employment Skill Mission, cleared.
A Delhi resident Poonam Chopra has already been arrested in the case. The bureau had recovered ₹2 lakh of the bribe money from Chopra, who is accused of acting as a facilitator to get the bills cleared.
Dahiya and Chopra are facing a case under Sections 7 and 7A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, and Sections 384 (extortion) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, registered on the complaint of Rinku Manchanda, who has been running an educational institution Gramin Shiksha in Fatehabad for the last 10 years.
{{/usCountry}}Dahiya and Chopra are facing a case under Sections 7 and 7A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, and Sections 384 (extortion) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, registered on the complaint of Rinku Manchanda, who has been running an educational institution Gramin Shiksha in Fatehabad for the last 10 years.
{{/usCountry}}He imparted computer, AC technician, beauty parlour, etc., training to underprivileged students under the Haryana Skill Development Mission. For the said work, the Haryana skill development department owed him around ₹50 lakh.
Active complicity of Dahiya in the offences: Court
Referring to the material placed on record, the court said, “It prima facie shows active complicity of the applicant/accused...who approved the bills of payment submitted by the complainant and reported back minute to minute progress in the matter to said Poonam Chopra.”
ACB has placed the WhatsApp chats and calls between Dahiya and Chopra to fortify its allegations. The duo had met at a café in Sector 8, Chandigarh, on April 20, when Dahiya was picked for questioning.
“The above facts leave no doubt that there is quite an intimate relation between Dahiya and Chopra, who was caught red-handed on April 20, by the raiding party while accepting the amount of ₹3 lakh from the complainant,” read the order.
The court also took note of the fact that the payment bills submitted by the complainant were awaiting approval for the last three years. And six of these, amounting to ₹10.42 lakh, were approved within 12 days between April 6 and 17.
As per the Whatsapp chat between Chopra and Manchanda, on April 6, she had sent the messages, “Aap jaise doge mei sir ko boldugi” and “He told me kaam ho jaayega”. In reply, the complainant wrote: “Ok mam”.
On April 8, a message saying, “Hi. Many payments approved. Will give total on Monday” was forwarded to Manchanda by Poonam Chopra. The said message was received by her from Dahiya.
“If he (Dahiya) had nothing to do with the amount delivered to Poonam Chopra, it does not appeal to reason as to why he would report back the status of the bills submitted by the complainant to her. The messages as reproduced above clearly show complicity of the applicant/accused (Dahiya) and Poonam Chopra behind approval of the huge amount of the bills pertaining to the complainant Rinku Manchanda after the complainant delivered initial amount of ₹2 lakh to accused Poonam Chopra,” read the court order.
Dahiya and accused Poonam known to each other
Poonam Chopra, in her confessional statement, said for the last four years, she was imparting training of plumber, electrician and data entry operator under the Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojna. It was during Dahiya’s tenure as director in the labour department that she came in contact with him. She said Manchanda’s bills amounting to ₹50 lakh were not cleared by the skill development department, Panchkula, for the last three years. So, she had talked to Dahiya who asked her to strike a deal for ₹5 lakh bribe with Manchanda.