E-Paper
Panchkula: ₹225-crore HSVP embezzlement case: ED files chargesheet against 2 former HSVP officials, 3 others
The two accused and former HSVP officials have been identified as Sunil Kumar Bansal and Ram Niwas. During the period of 2019–2024, Ram Niwas was also an MLA from Haryana.
The enforcement directorate (ED) has filed its chargesheet before a special court in Panchkula under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against two former officials of the Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP), and three other unidentified accused in a case of public fund misappropriation amounting to ₹225.51 crore from HSVP bank accounts between a period of 2015–2019.
The two accused and former HSVP officials have been identified as Sunil Kumar Bansal and Ram Niwas. During the period of 2019–2024, Ram Niwas was also an MLA from Haryana. During its investigation, the ED arrested Bansal and Niwas on June 9, 2025, and are currently in judicial custody. The ED had already attached properties amounting to ₹27.30 crore by issuing four provisional attachment orders (PAOs).
The investigation under PMLA revealed the existence of 10 additional bank accounts associated with HSVP where similar fraudulent transactions were carried out using the same modus operandi. The ED thus unearthed an overall embezzlement of public funds to the tune of ₹225.51 crore, which are now being considered as ‘proceeds of crime’ in this case.
The ED initiated its investigation based on an FIR registered on the basis of a complaint filed by the drawing and disbursing officer (DDO) of HSVP against unknown persons at the Sector-7 police station. The DDO had reported that a fraud and financial loss had been committed through an HSVP bank account maintained with the Punjab National Bank (PNB) in Chandigarh.
During an internal inquiry, the HSVP found that no such bank account was reflected in its cash branch or IT wing, meaning that the authority had been defrauded by Bansal and Niwas in a clandestine manner.
As per the FIR, during the period of 2015–2019, debit transactions amounting to approximately ₹70 crore were repeatedly released from the said HSVP bank account in favour of some particular parties for no apparent reason, causing a loss of ₹70 crore to the HSVP.
