ACB to file disproportionate assets case against IAS officer

JODHPUR: Following investigations into the case against suspended IAS officer Nirmala Meena for her alleged involvement in embezzling about Rs 8 crore, the state anti-corruption bureau (ACB) will file a disproportionate assets case against her.
Meena, the then district supply officer (DSO) of Jodhpur, is accused of siphoning off about 35,000 quintals of wheat worth about Rs 8 crore, and allegedly selling it to flour mills in the open market instead of allotting the same to ration dealers.

Following the allegations, Meena, who was promoted to IAS, was suspended in October 2017. She has been posted as DSO in Jodhpur six times during her tenure as an administrative officer.

The ACB found evidences of Meena amassing properties in Jaipur, Jodhpur and Barmer in her and her husband’s names. The evidences and documents related to these properties were found by ACB during the investigation.

During ACB’s search of her official residence as well as two other houses on Thursday, some incriminating evidence of her properties were found.

According to officers, these were all acquired by Meena over the last 10 years.

ACB SP Ajay Pal Lamba said these include two houses in Jaipur, 15 bighas of land in Pachpadra and Barmer, besides five plots of land and a petrol pump in Jodhpur. Besides, ACB has also found details of nine accounts she held in different banks. These documents are being inspected.

“On Friday, we also found one flat owned by the officer in Mount Abu, which also of high value. We hope to find more such properties as the investigation goes on,” Lamba said.

On the basis of these findings, the ACB is now planning to file a case against her for possessing assets disproportionate to her known sources of income.

“Apart from Meena, there are three more accused in the case—Swaroop Singh, a flour mill owner; Suresh Upadhyay, a contractor known to DSO; and Ashok Paliwal, her clerk. We have arrested Swaroop Singh and our teams are searching for the other accused,” he said, adding that it was revealed during interrogation that Meena had received somewhere between Rs 3.5 to 4 crore.

Meena had sought and received a stay from the high court against her arrest on the condition that she would cooperate with the investigation. The next hearing of the case is due on March 15.

Though the ACB challenged the decision in the Supreme Court, the Apex court refused to allow the petition as it was pending before the high court.