Centre grants sanction to prosecute Delhi bureaucrat Rajendra Kumar, rejects plea for voluntary retirement

Kumar, a1989-batch IAS officer, was arrested on July 4 by the CBI and later granted bail by a court on July 26.

Union home ministry has accorded sanction to prosecute Rajendra Kumar, former principal secretary to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Former principal secretary Rajendra Kumar has been chargesheeted in a case of corruption by the CBI. (Arun Sharma/HT Photo)

The ministry has also declined to entertain Kumar’s request for voluntary retirement from service given the pending prosecution.

The prosecution sanction is required under section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, which says it is necessary for the prosecuting authority to have the previous sanction of the appropriate administrative authority for launching prosecution against a public servant.

Since the CBI had chargesheeted Rajendra Kumar without the sanction from the home ministry, the court cannot take cognizance of the chargesheet against him.

“Prosecution sanction as well as denial of voluntary retirement has been formally communicated to authorities concerned,” said a senior home ministry official.

The CBI in its chargesheet has alleged that accused persons, including Rajendra Kumar, entered into a criminal conspiracy to cause a loss of Rs 12 crore to the Delhi government in award of contracts between 2007 and 2015

Kumar, a1989-batch IAS officer, was arrested on July 4 by the CBI and later granted bail by a court on July 26.

"It is clear that they understand that the chargesheet filed is going to fail and, therefore, the only way to continue to threaten the people is to misuse the provisions of Criminal Procedure Code,” Kumar had said in a recent blog post, rejecting the corruption charges against him.

He had also accused the CBI of harassing him, but the CBI in a statement denied the charge.