DJB ex-official, vigilance spl secy file police complaints

Rajasekhar, in turn, has filed a police complaint against Rai at the IP Estate police station, alleging forgery in annual performance assessment reports.

- Paras Singh

Former Delhi Jal Board (DJB) chief executive officer and 2007 batch IAS officer of the Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre, Udit Prakash Rai, who is currently serving as secretary to the Mizoram government, has filed a series of complaints against Delhi vigilance special secretary YVVJ Rajasekhar, alleging that a “biased inquiry” is being conducted against him in the Jal Vihar bungalow case, and that his family was being subjected to harassment.

The Jal Vihar bungalow case refers to the April 26 show-cause notice issued by the vigilance department to Rai for allegedly demolishing a monument dating back to the 15th century to build a double-storey bungalow in its place in 2021-22, when he was still the DJB chief executive.

The monument in question finds a mention in the Archaeological Survey of India’s (ASI) list of Muhammadan and Hindu monuments, prepared in 1922, and is identified as Mahal, built during the Sayyid rule in Delhi.

On May 30, the vigilance department issued a second notice to Rai, asking him to furnish a reply to the April 26 notice “without fail”.

On May 31, a joint team, comprising officials from the vigilance and archaeological departments, and the DJB, among others, visited the bungalow for an assessment but found it locked, and returned without conducting the inspection.

Rai’s family continues to occupy the house.

Rai said that he has not received any such notice directly or through the Mizoram government, adding that sensitive information is being leaked to malign his image.