Back-to-back graft charges rock UP’s IAS circles
There was a time in the 1990s when the Uttar Pradesh IAS Association would hold a secret ballot to identify the three most corrupt officers in their midst. What started with the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government’s decision last month to suspend IAS officer Abhishek Prakash as Invest UP CEO in light of graft allegations is now taking a fresh turn, with allegations of corruption being levelled against other IAS officers posted in the state.
Within weeks of the government suspending Prakash, who was considered close to additional chief secretary S.P. Goyal, Goyal too is now under the scanner.
National president of Azad Adhikar Sena and former IPS officer Amitabh Thakur has accused him of helping relatives purchase land in Lucknow’s posh Gomti Nagar Extension area—with former UP DGP Sulkhan Singh joining the cause by demanding a probe into the allegations.
A third allegation came to light after a purported letter in which the department of personnel & training (DoPT)—under the central Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions—is accepting a complaint by one Subit Kumar Singh against a IAS officer posted in Uttar Pradesh.
Against the backdrop of the purported letter, bureaucratic circles in the state are abuzz that the letter dated 19 February, 2025, involves a senior IAS officer considered close to CM Yogi Adityanath and seen as a rival to another influential civil servant in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO).
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RSS, BJP cadres told: Call him ‘Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar’
UP CM Yogi Adityanath attended a coordination meeting with RSS functionaries in Ghaziabad last week. After the meeting, which lasted for three hours, a unanimous decision emerged—all BJP, Sangh workers would henceforth refer to Ambedkar by his full name (Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar).
This strategy will be put into action during Ambedkar Jayanti (14 April) engagements. According to the plan, posters will be put up carrying Ambedkar’s full name, and BJP and Sangh leaders will mention in their speeches how the Communists ‘intentionally skipped Ramji’ while referring to Ambedkar. Those making speeches have also been advised to add ‘mananiye’ (honourable) or ‘pujyaniya’ (revered) before Ambedkar’s name.
The coordination meeting in Ghaziabad where this strategy was finalised was attended by nearly 250 representatives from 31 RSS affiliates. From the BJP, key attendees included the UP CM, state BJP chief Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary and UP BJP general secretary (organisation) Dharmpal Singh.
Justice Yashwant Varma’s hush-hush oath-taking
Unlike the norm that the oath-taking for a high court judge be a ceremonious affair with all the judges of that court as well as lawyers in attendance, Justice Yashwant Varma—formerly of the Delhi HC—was likely sworn in as a judge of the Allahabad HC in a hush-hush event Saturday.
Embroiled in controversy over sacks filled with cash being found in a room located on the premises of his official residence, Justice Varma was repatriated to the Allahabad HC by the SC Collegium last month, though Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna has instructed the chief justice of the high court not to assign Justice Varma any cases just yet.
Justice Varma’s oath-taking was marked by an update on the high court website saying, “[He was] transferred back to Allahabad High Court and took oath on Apr 5, 2025.”
It is unclear where or how the oath was administered to him. The Allahabad High Court Bar Association was also quick to pass a resolution against the “clandestine” manner in which the judge was administered the oath. An in-house inquiry set up by the Supreme Court is ongoing against him.
Telangana chief secy’s ‘retirement month’ hit by turbulence
IAS officers in Telangana are upset about “harsh” remarks by a Supreme Court bench directed at chief secretary Santhi Kumari over felling of trees on 400 acres of disputed land abutting the University of Hyderabad.
Taking suo motu cognizance of the Revanth Reddy-led Congress government’s decision to level the land by uprooting the dense vegetation and thereby driving the fauna out, a bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih Thursday ordered the chief secretary to immediately halt all activity on the land until further instructions.
While asking the state government to explain the “compelling urgency” in clearing the “forest-like” land with an alarming pace, the judges warned that if their instructions were not followed, they would hold the chief secretary personally responsible and initiate strict action.
Justice Gavai reportedly remarked that Kumari “will go to a temporary prison constructed at the same spot near the lake,” adding that “…if the chief secretary wants to enjoy the state hospitality, one can’t help it.”
A senior IAS officer posted in Telangana told ThePrint that Kumari is due to retire at the end of this month and that these will be the “memories she carries from the end of her tenure”. Another colleague expressed regret that the IAS officer who maintains a low-profile had “to suffer the ignominy of an imprisonment warning” in her retirement month, saying “the decision and hasty execution was the government leadership’s call, not hers”.
Meanwhile, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) has dispatched its Telangana in-charge Meenakshi Natarajan to the state to hold talks with government officials and those opposing the government’s move.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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