Arrest of a "corrupt" IAS officer in Andhra Pradesh

Desaraju Surya
Hyderabad: The arrest of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer M Jaganmohan by sleuths of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in Hyderabad today in connection with a disproportionate assets case could be the beginning of more such cases to come soon.
The Andhra Pradesh government recently gave its go-ahead to the ACB to proceed against officers belonging to All India Services (IAS, Indian Police Service and Indian Forest Service) of the state cadre who have been facing charges of corruption.
The ACB made out cases of corruption, including possession of assets disproportionate to their legitimate sources of income, against 22 top-ranking officers. The list includes 15 officers belonging to IAS, IPS and IFS.
“In eight cases involving AIS officers, the government has accorded requisite permission for us to proceed ahead. We shall now focus on these cases,” a top official of ACB said. He, however, did not like to reveal the names of these officers as it could hamper the cases.
In fact, at a review meeting of the ACB last week, Chief Minister K Rosaiah reportedly directed its Director General K Aravinda Rao to trap the “big sharks” and not just the “small fish” so as to create a “fear” among the corrupt elements in the administration.
Sources in ACB said the raid on Jaganmohan, a 1999-batch IAS officer posted as Joint Collector-1 of Ranga Reddy district, was carried out after many complaints about his alleged involvement in illegal land deals were received by the Chief Minister’s Office. The ACB unearthed assets worth over Rs 20 crore in the raids carried out on his official residence, office chamber and other properties besides his relatives’ houses in Hyderabad today.
“This is probably the first such case against a serving IAS officer in recent memory. In April 2007, an IPS officer J G Murali was arrested in a disproportionate assets case when he was serving as Superintendent of Police, Visakhapatnam (Rural), with his wealth running into several crore rupees,” a senior ACB official recalled.
Though another officer Harshavardhan was also arrested in connection with a similar case in November last year, it happened a few months before he was inducted into the IAS. In his case, ACB unearthed assets worth over Rs 8 crore but he succeeded in getting into IAS through an order from the Central Administrative Tribunal.
Jaganmohan’s arrest has become a point of intense debate among IAS officers in the state today. “There are many other black sheep within our ranks. Jaganmohan’s arrest should at least become a deterrent for the corrupt officers in our ranks,” a senior IAS officer remarked.

A Brief about Jaganmohan's Case:

The Central Investigation Unit of the ACB raided the residence of M Jaganmohan, a 1999-batch IAS officer currently posted as Joint Collector-1 of Ranga Reddy district, and seized three kilograms of gold, Rs 15 lakh in cash and many property documents. Bank balances amounting to Rs 12 lakh and investments in life insurance policies, national savings and Kisan Vikas Patras amounting to Rs 15 lakh, household articles worth Rs four lakh and a car worth Rs seven lakh were also seized in the raid, according to ACB Joint Director Sampath Kumar.
In all nine special teams of ACB simultaneously raided the official residence of Jaganmohan on Road No. 13 Banjara Hills, his relatives house at Kundanbagh, his office chamber in the Ranga Reddy district Collectorate and other places, and seized documents related to his properties in Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam and Ranga Reddy district, sources in the ACB said.
The IAS officer also owned two houses in Hyderabad city, six flats in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam and eight house sites in Ranga Reddy district.
Some incriminating documents were also seized from his office chamber in the district Collectorate, ACB sources added.
Jaganmohan, an MSc., PhD and M Ed, joined state revenue service in December 1990 and was inducted into IAS in January 2005 and allotted the 1999 batch. His wife is a revenue divisional officer-cadre officer currently posted in the Urban Land Ceiling wing of the state revenue department.
He was hand-picked for the Ranga Reddy Joint Collector's post in February 2008 by an "advisor" to government allegedly to settle some land deals.