Kejriwal’s principal secy Rajender Kumar is no stranger to controversy

The CBI on Monday arrested Rajender Kumar, principal secretary to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, in a corruption case.

The CBI on Monday arrested Rajender Kumar, principal secretary to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, in a corruption case.

Known to be close to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, senior IAS officer Rajender Kumar was one of the Aam Aadmi Party’s first bureaucratic appointments during its 49-day stint in 2014. (PTI File Photo)

The CBI had in December last year registered a first information report (FIR) against Kumar for allegedly abusing his official position in awarding contracts from the city government to a private firm.

Read: CBI arrests Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s principal secy in graft case

Known to be close to Kejriwal, the senior IAS officer was one of the Aam Aadmi Party’s first bureaucratic appointments during its 49-day stint in 2014.

He was subsequently given charge of several important departments, including transport and education, before taking over as the CM’s secretary.

The 1989-batch officer was also at the centre of a pitched battle between the city government and lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung in June last year, after Kejriwal appointed his trusted officer as the home secretary.

Read: Transfers, arrests of Delhi officials attempt to paralyse AAP govt: Sisodia

The L-G had rejected the appointment, saying the decision didn’t have his approval, and put Dharam Pal in charge.

But the AAP dug in its heels and refused to budge from its pick, resulting in a peculiar situation where two home secretaries were functioning from the Delhi secretariat, but ultimately, Kumar had to go.

An IIT graduate, Kumar is known to enjoy a warm rapport with the chief minister, who passed out of IIT-Kharagpur as a mechanical engineer in 1989.