Raipur, Sep 23 (PTI) The ED has claimed that arrested former Chhattisgarh Public Service Commission (CGPSC) chairman Taman Singh Sonwani received Rs 45 lakh through an institution controlled by him in return for favouring a businessman’s son and daughter-in-law in the 2021 state service examination.
The money he received was shown as corporate social responsibility (CSR) funding, it said, adding that the total proceeds of crime in this case is quantified so far to the tune of Rs 3.28 crore.
The federal agency filed its first prosecution complaint before a special court in Raipur in connection with the alleged irregularities and corruption in the CGPSC examination scam during the previous Congress government in the state.
Seven accused — Sonwani; Director of Shri Bajrang Power and Ispat Ltd Shravan Goyal; the then CGPSC Deputy Controller (Examination) Lalit Ganvir; Utkarsh Chandrakar, his brother-in-law Anil Chandrakar, medical officer Dr Vikas Chandrakar, and Additional Collector Chetan Borghariya were named as accused in the prosecution complaint.
Utkarsh Chandrakar is the nephew of K K Chandravanshi, a former personal assistant to the then Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, while Borghariya was an Officer on Special Duty in the then chief minister’s office and is presently an Additional Collector in Balrampur-Ramanujganj.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) claimed that money generated through alleged corrupt examination arrangements was received through Gramin Vikas Samiti (GVS) as CSR funding and that money collected from candidates was subsequently possessed, used, transferred or projected as legitimate transactions.
Sonwani, who headed the CGPSC from 2020 to 2023, was arrested by the ED in July in connection with its money laundering investigation into alleged corruption, question paper leaks and manipulation of examinations conducted by the commission in 2020 and 2021 for recruitment to posts, including deputy collector and deputy superintendent of police.
Earlier this month, the ED arrested Borghariya and Utkarsh Chandrakar.
The money laundering probe stems from an FIR registered by the Chhattisgarh Economic Offences Wing (EOW), another FIR lodged by the state police in Balod district and a subsequent complaint filed by the CBI in 2024. The CBI filed a chargesheet and two supplementary chargesheets in 2025, and Sonwani was also arrested by the central agency in 2024.
According to the ED, the proceeds of crime identified in the case originated through two separate streams.
The first related to alleged manipulation of the CGPSC State Service Examination in which Sonwani, as chairman, had a role in the custody and availability of question papers and the examination process.
The ED alleged that in consideration of favour shown to the son and daughter-in-law of businessman Shravan Kumar Goyal, Gramin Vikas Samiti (GVS), an institution controlled by Sonwani, received Rs 45 lakh from Shri Bajrang Power and Ispat Ltd through its CSR mechanism. The agency said the payment was made in two instalments of Rs 20 lakh and Rs 25 lakh and was projected as legitimate institutional funding.
It said that Sonwani’s position as CGPSC chairman, his directions concerning applications made in the name of GVS, his management of the institution and approvals obtained on those applications established his alleged knowing acquisition, possession and use of the money.
The complaint said Goyal’s son Shashank Goyal and daughter-in-law Bhumika Katiyar were selected at ranks three and four respectively. It also referred to the selection of Sonwani’s nephews Nitesh Sonwani and Sahil Sonwani as deputy collector and deputy superintendent of police, and his nieces-in-law Misha Kosle and Deepa Adil as deputy collector and district excise officer.
The agency has also attributed a role to CGPSC Deputy Controller of Examinations Lalit Ganvir, claiming he held the post from December 2020 while simultaneously serving as treasurer of GVS and as a joint authorised signatory of its Bank of Maharashtra account.
The ED claimed the second stream involved collection of money from candidates and their families on the promise that examination papers would be provided in advance and selections secured.
The agency quantified this collection at Rs 3.13 crore. The total proceeds of crime identified so far have been quantified at Rs 3.28 crore — Rs 45 lakh in the first stream and Rs 3.13 crore collected from candidates in the second, the agency said.
The ED clarified that cash deposits of Rs 72.18 lakh in Utkarsh Chandrakar’s bank account represented placement of part of the Rs 3.13 crore and were not additional proceeds. It also treated Rs 69.85 lakh deposited in Borghariya’s accounts as proceeds of crime in his possession.
The agency said the investigation suggested that candidates were allegedly offered access to examination papers and selection for payments ranging from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 60 lakh per candidate.
Dr Vikas Chandrakar allegedly acted as a recruiter and aggregator, approaching candidates and their families and collecting money. Statements recorded by the ED described payments carried by him to Anil Chandrakar and Utkarsh Chandrakar, with an approximate figure of Rs 3.20 crore, including amounts he allegedly borrowed where candidates had not paid the full amount, it said.
The ED also cited bank transactions as evidence of the movement of money, including transfers of Rs 9.90 lakh on April 8, 2022 and Rs 5.10 lakh on April 11, 2022 from Anil Chandrakar’s bank account to Utkarsh Chandrakar. PTI TKP NP
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