The Uttar Pradesh government is set to revoke the suspension of senior IAS officer Abhishek Prakash, nearly a year after he was suspended over an alleged bribery case linked to a solar power project linked to Invest UP.
Government sources said the reinstatement is expected after March 14, though the state’s appointment and personnel department is yet to issue a formal notification. A senior official in the department said orders would be communicated once issued.
Prakash, a 2006-batch IAS officer and former chief executive officer (CEO) of Invest UP, was suspended on March 20, 2024, after allegations surfaced that he had allegedly sought a bribe through his alleged aide Nikant Jain to facilitate approval of a solar project linked to Invest UP. Police registered an FIR against Jain and later arrested him.
The case turned on February 10, 2026, when the Allahabad high court quashed the FIR against Jain, citing lack of evidence and procedural lapses. The court noted that the complainant had retracted his allegations and that investigators failed to prepare a mandatory site plan of the alleged place of occurrence. The bench also observed that investigators could not establish any cash trail, bank transaction, independent witness testimony or audio-visual evidence to substantiate the bribery allegations. It further flagged procedural irregularities, including the investigating officer recording Prakash’s statement himself.
Court records indicated that delays in the solar project were linked to pending reports on land allocation from the Yamuna Expressway industrial development authority and electricity subsidy clearance from the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited. The court also clarified that under Sections 8 and 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, it is necessary to establish that “an undue advantage was offered or promised to influence a public servant,” something investigators failed to demonstrate.
{{/usCountry}}Court records indicated that delays in the solar project were linked to pending reports on land allocation from the Yamuna Expressway industrial development authority and electricity subsidy clearance from the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited. The court also clarified that under Sections 8 and 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, it is necessary to establish that “an undue advantage was offered or promised to influence a public servant,” something investigators failed to demonstrate.
{{/usCountry}}Under service rules, the state government must send a report to the department of personnel and training before completion of one year of suspension. With the FIR against the alleged intermediary quashed, the state government has initiated the process to revoke Prakash’s suspension, sources said.