After granting prosecution sanction against controversial IAS officer Udit Prakash Rai for alleged forging of the signatures of the Chief Secretaries of Delhi and Andaman & Nicobar Administration on his annual performance appraisal reports (APAR) during different periods of his posting, Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena has referred the case to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for further action.
Rai has also been charged with demolishing a heritage structure for construction of his official residence in Delhi’s Jal Vihar while he was serving as the Chief Executive Officer of Delhi Jal Board, at a whopping cost of `5 crores.
According to officials, Rai, a 2007 IAS officer and a blue-eyed boy of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, had forged the signatures of the reviewing authority, the Chief Secretary of A&N and Delhi between 2017 and 2021. A criminal case of forgery under sections 465/471 IPC has been registered against Rai at IP Estate Police Station on the complaint of Special Secretary (Vigilance), Delhi Government.
According to Department of Vigilance, Rai, in his APARs for the periods from 01.04.2017 to 08.10.2017 and from 09.10.2017 to 31.03.2018, had also forged the signatures of his then reporting authority, SCL Das, the then Principal Secretary (Revenue) in A&N Administration and the signature of the reviewing authority, Anindo Majumdar, the then Chief Secretary of A&N.
Further, in the APAR for period from 01.04.2019 to 30.07.2019, Rai forged the signatures of the reporting authority, Vikram Dev Dutt, the then Principal Secretary (Revenue) in A&N Administration, and the signature of the reviewing authority, Chetan Bhushan Sanghi, the then Chief Secretary of A&N.
Notably during these periods, Rai was posted as DM in Andaman & Nicobar.
Upon his transfer to Delhi, Rai was posted as Director (Education). Considered a close confidant of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Rai, in his successive APARs for the period from 31. 08.2020 to 31.03.2021, forged the signatures of his reporting authority, H Rajesh Prasad, then Principal Secretary (Education), GNCTD, and the signature of the reviewing authority, Vijay Kumar Dev, then Chief Secretary of Delhi.
During the course of investigation, it came to light that Rai, deliberately filled his APARs manually, not online, through the SPARROW Portal, citing technical glitches.
However, during enquiry, two officers, namely Anindo Majumdar and Vijay Kumar Dev, 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 Anindo Majumdar and Vijay Kumar Dev did not match with those on Rai’s APARs. Accordingly, the matter was earlier placed before the LG and, in view of the seriousness of the matter, he had recommended initiation of disciplinary and criminal action against Rai now posted in Mizoram and under suspension. Also, since Rai is posted outside Delhi, his case was not required to be routed through National Capital Civil Services Authority (NCCSA) .
Rai is under suspension in another case of corruption wherein he was charged with accepting bribe from an engineer in the Delhi Agriculture Marketing Board while serving as its Vice-Chairman.
