CBI court frames charges against Haryana IAS officer

Chandigarh, (IANS) A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court here Thursday framed corruption charges against suspended Haryana Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Sanjeev Kumar and three others.

Special Judge Darshan Singh framed charges for irregularities in  textbook purchase and printing that caused a huge financial loss to the state exchequer.

Kumar, 1985-batch officer, was the state project director in the Haryana Prathmik Shiksha Pariyojna Parishad (HPSPP) from April 1998 to April 1999.

The HPSPP was a registered agency constituted to implement Districts Primary Education Programme (DPEP) in the state.

"As per rules, Sanjeev had financial powers to sanction teaching learning material worth Rs.15 lakh for free distribution to students of primary classes. During his tenure, he placed printing orders and purchased books, exceeding his financial powers, from only those bidders who had paid hefty bribes to him," said a CBI official.

"In the whole process, he caused a loss of around Rs.2.5 crore. Today the court also framed charges against store purchase officer Sushant Kumar Swain and two middlemen, Tikka Hussain Mustafa and Nirmal Singla," he added.

In 2003, Sanjeev Kumar had filed a public suit against former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala in the Supreme Court.

He had accused the Chautala government of indulging in corrupt practices while recruiting over 3,000 JBT (junior basic training) teachers in 2000.