17 months, two inquiries later, Jind Agriculture Officer gets clean chit

Nearly seventeen months after Jind Deputy Director (Agriculture) Girish Nagpal was suspended on the complaint of Sharwan Kumar Garg, chairman of the Haryana Gau Seva Ayog, the state government has finally given him a clean chit.

The case file

• Girish Nagpal was suspended on the complaint of Gau Seva Ayog chairman Sharwan Garg after detecting irregularities in the online sale of pesticides by a Safidon-based company

• 2024: The first inquiry report found no conclusive evidence against the officer, but the competent authority sought a fresh probe

• 2025: The second inquiry again found no evidence of wrongdoing

• The Agriculture Department has now revoked Nagpal’s suspension

Revoking the suspension, Pankaj Agarwal, Principal Secretary, Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department, stated in his order that the complainant had “miserably failed” to provide any cogent evidence of corruption against the officer.

Nagpal had been placed under suspension on July 17, 2024, days after he raided a Safidon-based pesticide company over alleged irregularities in the online sale of pesticides. Following this action, Garg filed a complaint to the Chief Minister, levelling corruption charges that triggered the suspension.

To examine the allegations, the Agriculture Department on July 30, 2024, set up an inquiry committee headed by Rohtash Singh, Additional Director. The committee’s report concluded that “on the basis of the facts, documents and circumstances, in the absence of any conclusive evidence, the complaint need to be filed.” However, the competent authority did not concur with the findings and ordered a fresh inquiry under the Haryana Civil Services (HCS) Rules, 2016.

Subsequently, Rajender Singh Solanki, Additional Director (Administration), was appointed as the inquiry officer. He submitted his report on June 30, 2025, to the Director, Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department, again stating that no evidence had been found against Nagpal.

The department’s final stance echoed the inquiry’s conclusion: “The inquiry report has concluded that in the absence of any cogent evidence as the complainant, Sharwan Garg, chairman, Haryana Gau Seva Ayog, has miserably failed to place on record any evidence, this committee finds nothing against Nagpal.”

With this, Nagpal’s suspension has been formally revoked, bringing closure to a prolonged case involving two separate inquiries and a 17-month wait.