Delhi L-G gives nod to prosecute IAS officer for ‘forging’ signatures

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 8

Lieutenant Governor (L-G) VK Saxena on Thursday granted sanction for the prosecution of controversial IAS officer Udit Prakash Rai for allegedly forging the signatures of officials on his Annual Performance Appraisal Reports (APAR) during different periods of his posting, Raj Niwas officials said.

They said he had forged the signatures of Chief Secretaries of Delhi and Andaman and Nicobar Administration and the L-G also recommended the case to the Ministry of Home Affairs for further action.

Rai, a 2007 IAS officer, had forged the signatures of his reviewing authority, i.e. the Chief Secretary of A&N and Delhi between 2017 and 2021. A case was registered against him under Sections 465 (forgery) and 471 (using as genuine a forged document) of the IPC.

“According to the Vigilance Department, Rai in his APARs for the periods from April 2017 to October 2017 and from October 2017 to March 2018 had forged the signatures of his then reporting authority, SCL Das, the then Principal Secretary (Revenue) in the A&N administration, and the signature of the reviewing authority, Anindo Majumdar, the then Chief Secretary of A&N,” the officials said.

Further in from April 2019 to July 2019, Rai had forged the signatures of the reporting authority, Vikram Dev Dutt, the then Principal Secretary (Revenue) in the A&N administration, and the signature of the reviewing authority, Chetan Bhushan Sanghi, the then Chief Secretary of A&N, they added.

During these periods, Rai was posted as DM in the Andaman & Nicobar administration.

Further upon his transfer to Delhi, Raj Niwas officials said Rai was posted as Director (Education) in the GNCTD and alleged that he was considered a close confidant of the Kejriwal-led AAP government.

“Similarly from 2020 to 2021, he had forged the signatures of his reporting authority, H Rajesh Prasad, the then Principal Secretary (Education), GNCTD, and the signature of the reviewing authority, Vijay Kumar Dev, the then Chief Secretary of Delhi,” another official said.

It also came to light in the investigation that he deliberately filled his APARs manually and not online, through a portal, citing technical glitches, the officials said.

During the inquiry, the officers denied having reviewed the APARs of Rai and confirmed that the signatures on his APARs were forged.

“Even the Forensic Science Laboratory report confirmed that the specimen signatures and handwritings of Majumdar and Dev did not match with those on Rai’s APARs,” the officials added.

Rai, currently posted in Mizoram, is under suspension. Also, since Rai is posted outside Delhi, his case was not required to be routed through NCCSA (National Capital Civil Service Authority).

“He is also under suspension in another corruption matter wherein he was charged with taking graft money from an engineer in the Delhi Agriculture Marketing Board, while serving as its Vice-Chairman. He has also been charged of demolishing a heritage structure for construction of his official residence in Delhi’s Jal Vihar, while he was serving as the CEO of Delhi Jal Board, at a whopping cost of Rs 5 crore,” the officials added.