ED files chargesheet against former CGPSC chief, six others
Raipur, Sep 22 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday filed a 'prosecution complaint' or charge sheet against seven persons including former Chhattisgarh Public Service Commission (CGPSC) chairman Taman Singh Sonwani in a case linked to alleged irregularities in recruitment examinations.
The 99-page prosecution complaint, accompanied by documents running into around 3,700 pages, was filed before the Special PMLA Court in Raipur, ED lawyer Sourabh Kumar Pande told PTI.
Besides Sonwani, the accused named in the complaint are businessman Shravan Goyal, then CGPSC Deputy Controller (Examination) Lalit Ganvir, Utkarsh Chandrakar (nephew of K K Chandravanshi, a former personal assistant of former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel)), Vikas Chandrakar and Anil Chandrakar, and Additional Collector Chetan Borghariya (who was then an Officer on Special Duty at Baghel's office).
It is the first prosecution complaint filed by the federal agency in the case.
According to the ED's investigation, Goyal allegedly provided money to Sonwani's NGO Gramin Vikas Samiti (GVS) for facilitating the selection of Goyal's son and daughter-in-law in CGPSC examinations.
When the recruitment rules of the CGPSC were amended in 2021, Ganvir allegedly played a role in removing the word "nephew" from the definition of "family" to facilitate the selection of then chairman Sonwani's relatives, the ED lawyer said.
Utkarsh and Vikas Chandrakar allegedly obtained the preliminary and mains examination papers for candidates and collected money in return, he said.
Sonwani was arrested by the ED in July as part of its investigation related to alleged corruption, question paper leaks and manipulation of the CGPSC's examinations in 2020 and 2021 -- when the Congress was in power -- for the posts of deputy collector, deputy superintendent of police and other senior government posts.
The money laundering investigation stems from an FIR registered by the Chhattisgarh Economic Offences Wing and a subsequent complaint filed by the CBI in July 2024 and three chargesheets filed in 2025. Sonwani was also arrested by the CBI in 2024.
The CBI case was filed after the BJP defeated the Congress in the November 2023 elections.
