The Uttar Pradesh Vigilance Establishment has registered a corruption case against five irrigation department engineers and a private contractor for allegedly causing a ₹16.69 crore loss to the state exchequer by approving inflated rates for dewatering work and extending undue financial benefits to the contractor through a criminal conspiracy.
The first information report (FIR), lodged at the Vigilance Establishment police station in Lucknow on Friday, names then superintending engineer Kaushal Kumar, assistant engineers Sanjay Kumar, Yashwant Singh and Manoj Kumar Agrawal, junior engineer Sukhbir Singh, and contractor Rajbir Singh of Muzaffarnagar.
According to the FIR, the accused allegedly approved dewatering charges of ₹38, ₹40 and ₹41.40 per KWH against the prescribed departmental rate of ₹27 per KWH, resulting in excess payments to the contractor.
The case has been registered under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code, along with Sections 13(1)(a) and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, as amended in 2018.
The FIR was filed by vigilance inspector Ratan Lal Kanojia following an open inquiry ordered by the Uttar Pradesh government in September 2022. The inquiry allegedly found prima facie evidence of criminal misconduct, after which the government granted sanction for prosecution on June 19, 2026.
The vigilance inquiry alleged that the inflated rates caused a loss of ₹16,68,93,148 to the state exchequer while providing undue financial benefit to the contractor.
{{/usCountry}}The vigilance inquiry alleged that the inflated rates caused a loss of ₹16,68,93,148 to the state exchequer while providing undue financial benefit to the contractor.
{{/usCountry}}Officials said the Vigilance Establishment has now initiated a detailed criminal investigation to determine the individual roles of each accused, examine the sanction of payments and verify the financial transactions linked to the alleged irregularities.
The investigation has been assigned to vigilance inspector Sanjay Kumar Singh, who will examine departmental records, scrutinise payment approvals and probe the alleged conspiracy, including the role of any other officials involved.